Cool air conditioning and a cushioned chair welcomed Vivainne as she waited in the auditorium, assignment already turned in. She was sore, and could already feel bruises forming along her arms, back, and legs, but couldn't have been more grateful for Darcy forcing her to participate in self defense classes before attending school. It meant she wasn't the most pathetic in their class, and that was something.

She leaned back, glancing to the side where she knew the hidden room waited. Would Inkwell be waiting there, or did he have work today? He'd said he wasn't a full time teacher here, which was reasonable, considering he was still an active hero. Not that Vivianne could find anything about him, at least on public forums. No one seemed to have heard of a hero named Inkwell.

I'll check the Unity forums next, Vivainne decided. She would probably have to ask permission, or get permissions assigned to her, unless her Los Angeles keycard worked here.

It had to be possible to get permissions to the Unity tower here, considering Florence was able to roam around both the tower and the program before being admitted. Unless he was a special case, with his parents running the tower.

Before she had a chance to look around for him and ask, or see if he was still hanging out with Damien, Pip hopped over a row of chairs and landed beside her.

Her sudden arrival wasn't as alarming as the blood painted across the front of her colorful shirt.

"Pip! What happened to you?"

"Fuck speedsters," Pip spat out, throwing herself into the seat beside Vivainne. She crosses her arms over her chest, only to unfold them and begin gesticulating wildly. "The first fight here, and I don't even get a chance to do anything because she sprints across the room faster than anyone has any right to and punches me so hard in the face it broke my nose."

"She broke your nose?" Vivainne twisted in her seat, inspecting the lines of Pip's nose. While it was slightly more red, it looked as it always did, small with a slight upturn at the end. Nothing about it looked broken.

"Well, it would be broken, if it wasn't for the protections," Pip said. "How was I supposed to be prepared for that? She didn't say anything, and she doesn't even have any training, and she took me out in one punch. God, now everyone thinks I can't fight."

"I'm sure they don't think that."

"I'm a Carter," Pip said, ignoring her. "That's our whole thing. It's the one thing I'm good at, and apparently, I don't even have that."

"It's two specific Carters' things, and what do you mean? It's not like you got kicked from the program. There's always tomorrow."

"I look like an idiot."

"You look fine," Vivainne said, biting her lip to keep from smiling. She shouldn't have found it funny, and knew that if Pip opened her eyes and saw Viv's face, it would only make her more angry, but she couldn't help herself. "Although, you are a bit bloody still."

"I can't seem to do anything right," Pip muttered, running a finger across her nose. "Wrong fighting style, wrong power usage, not fast enough…"

Vivainne sighed. She needed to change the subject, or Pip would keep going on about this. Maybe Florence could help?

She leaned forward, searching for the telltale fire-red hair, then for Damien's dark frame. They must have still been outside talking, because she didn't see either of them.

"Do you have your assignment?" she blurted out, unable to think of anything else.

Pip's eyes flew open. "Oh, fuck, no. Do you have a piece of paper? A pencil?"

"What, you're going to write up your assignment right now?" Vivainne asked, staring at Pip with wide eyes. "You could probably bring it to Artemis after class."

Pip shook her head, pieces of colored hair flying around her face.

"You didn't do it?"

"I forgot!"

Vivainne rolled her eyes so hard it hurt, then leaned down to grab the bag sitting at her feet. She didn't carry much with her down to train, there wasn't point. It wasn't college, it was a trade program, but she did carry a notebook with her just in case she needed to take notes. Or receive a note from Inkwell.

Who had yet to contact her since their first meeting.

Her eyes slid back to the window above the stage, wishing she could see through the wall and see if Inkwell was waiting for her as she passed Pip the notebook and pencil. Scratching immediately filled the quiet space, Pip's handwriting so cramped Vivainne couldn't read it.

Well, all that mattered was that Artemis could.

"Didn't your aunt give you the option to do a video essay instead?" Viv asked, remembering. Pip had mentioned she was dyslexic, which couldn't make these written assignments easy, though Vivainne wasn't certain how much it affected her ability to write things.

Pip sighed and shook her head, still writing. "Not this time. It'll be fine. She'll know what I'm saying, basically."

Figures began to filter into the room, bringing with them both the scent of freshly washed bodies and drying sweat. Apparently, not everyone had decided to shower.

"Mind if I join you?" Harper stepped out of the aisle and into the row of seats, casting a cautious look between Pip and Vivainne.

Pip looked up, staring at the girl then at Vivainne. "Oh, right. I should give you your privacy."

Vivainne grabbed her as the girl started to stand, tugging her back into the seat. "Shut up." She turned her attention to Harper, managing a cautious smile as her stomach flipped. When she'd agreed to go on a date with the girl, she hadn't thought it through. She'd never been on a date before. Never flirted with anyone. How was she supposed to know what to do? "Join us."

"Awesome." Harper walked down the row of seats, squeezing past Pip and Vivainne and dropping into the seat to Viv's left. Their arms brushed together, Harper's firm with muscle. Vivainne shifted, trying to put some margin of space between their bare skin, and brushed against Pip.

Suddenly, the room was suffocatingly warm.

It had never been more obvious to Vivainne that she was into women. Harper was undeniably attractive, and also sweet, and then there was Pip. And of course, she didn't think that way about Pip, but she couldn't ignore that she was cute and strong and furiously passionate. Then Artemis stepped on stage, flashing a smile that Vivainne had kept on a poster on her wall for far too many years.

Vivainne nearly leapt out of her skin when a finger brushed against the back of her hand, heart beating so fast she could feel it in her throat.

"After this, would you want to go hang out?" Harper asked, whispering the words as Artemis settled at her podium. "This isn't our date, I'm still trying to get Florence to help me out with that, but we could get to know each other? So it's not totally scary and weird?"

Nervous laughter bubbled up as she met the girl's dark eyes, the scent of floral shampoo drifting from her still damp hair. "That's probably a good idea. Scary?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're kind of intimidating," Harper said, teeth flashing in a too-wide grin.

"I am?" It had to be a joke. Vivainne was awkward and constantly torn, what about her could be intimidating?

"Yeah? You're so confident and also you kind of have a resting bitch face."

Vivainne grimaced. Did she really?

"It's not a bad thing, I swear," Harper said. "Your face looks good whether you're smiling or not."

"She's right," Pip murmured, and before Vivainne had a chance to figure out a response, Artemis cleared her throat.

"Welcome back," Artemis said. "If you haven't already turned in your assignment, please turn it in at the end of class. Now, who can tell me a little bit more about the role of humans in the Unity system and the history behind it?"

Pip raised her hand, pencil still gripped between her fingers. Before her aunt could call on her, she began to speak. "Humans are the overwhelming population of the earth. Supers are, at the end of the day, a subset of humans. A very small subset, in the grand scheme of things. Like, if all red-heads had magical powers."

From somewhere down below, Florence let out a small "hey!" of protest.

"In the beginning, there were even fewer supers than there are now. Whether that's just due to lack of documentation, or because there were actually fewer supers, it's impossible to say. But there were fewer supers, and so much paranoia and fear. People didn't understand what was happening, and there was so much going on in the world, people reacting to the changes in different ways. There were about ten years between the awakening of powers and the introduction of the first "superhero", and in those ten years, the world saw just how bad things could be. In Korea, supers were drafted into the military and forced to train and serve the government. In a small town along the Gulf of Mexico was entirely drowned by a super in reaction to the death of her mother. She was nine. In Algeria, a group of supers attempted to take over the government and held the capitol hostage for weeks while the rest of the country dissolved into chaos. Not to mention the metafauna and increase in natural disasters."

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Pip took a breath before continuing, finally lowering her hand back into her lap. "It was a bad ten years."

"Go on," Artemis prompted.

"Those first ten years after supers appeared proved just how bad it could be with humans and supers perpetually pitted against each other, and because of early incidents with supers, many super hate groups started to form and humans began to band together against us. This led to the Salem Massacre, which was the turning point for the relationship between humans and supers, at least in the United States."

"Yes," Artemis said, taking control of the conversation once more. "It's not widely publicized, but the Salem Massacre was what prompted the first iteration of the hero training program, which you all know produced The Archer, Earthshaker, Stargirl, Stormwall, and Heartwire. It became obvious that there was a need to change the interactions between humans and supers, to protect all of us and prevent an all out war."

From the front row of chairs, Damien raised his prosthetic hand. Artemis nodded at him, and he began to speak. "So, what? Those five heroes were trained and presented like, here are the good ones, stay in line or they'll deal with you? How is that conducive to a good relationship between supers and humans, not to mention superheroes and regular supers?"

"No," Florence said, speaking before Artemis could. "Yes, they were made to form a better relationship with normal humans, but they were also a rallying point for superhuman rights. They brought supers together, fought for superhuman rights, and proved to humans that they didn't have to be enemies."

"Heroes were invented as a means of giving supers power and agency without threatening human egos," Artemis said. "Humans were the top of the food chain for so long, only for supers to come along and disrupt that, and they weren't happy about it. They viewed us as a threat, to their beliefs, to their wellbeing, to their livelihoods. And of course, supers reacted to the hatred. How can you not? So, rather than trying to force supers to fit into society as it was, and threaten the security of humans, someone had the idea to create a new role, one that served the human population and offered opportunity to the super population. Thus, the hero was born. Which is what we're going to be talking about today."

"Hero," Artemis continued. "Heroic Emergency Response Officers. Yes, it's technically an acronym, or was, in the beginning. We don't tend to use it anymore, now that we've formed the Unity System. But that's how the idea was first introduced to the American government, as a means of controlling the super population. Doctor Clark Jameson was a historian who first presented the idea and sponsored it, bringing together five college age supers to train and prepare for the role. Although he was human himself, he was passionate about the study of supers, and wanted to find means of preventing an all out war between humans and supers. Eventually, sometime after their debut, these five heroes—which are generally referred to as Titans because they no longer fit our modern definition of the role—would separate from the American government and form the Unity System that we know today."

Vivainne leaned over, nearly putting her head on Pip's shoulder. "How much is she glossing over?"

"A lot," Pip whispered back. "Like the time The Archer and the other Titans held the White House hostage."

Vivainne blinked. "I never heard about that."

"It's not exactly something anyone wants publicly known."

"Now the question is, why the Unity System? What was wrong with the H.E.R.O initiative?"

Pip raised her hand in a flash, though she waited this time for her aunt to call on her before she began to speak. "With the H.E.R.O initiative, they were government officers. Like, the military or the police. It essentially started an arms race amongst several different countries to see who could create an army of supers the fastest."

"And a war between supers is not an option anyone wanted to see play out," Artemis said. "So the Titans split from the H.E.R.O program, operating as vigilantes for a while, as well as forming connections with the super programs in other countries. This led to the formation of Unity, a means of connecting supers around the world and protecting the world without government interference. Meaning, each and every one of us in this system are free agents. We cooperate with local governments, abide as much as possible to local laws, but we aren't pawns for the government. We can't be used as weapons."

Damien's hand rose tentatively into the air again, and despite others raising their hands faster, Artemis motioned for him to speak. "How is this different?"

"In this world, we are free agents, technically. We were able to build a code of conduct that we agreed upon, not have one thrust upon us. We can't be forced to do things we don't agree with. And, we can do a lot of things that the government isn't particularly fond of, such as giving away resources for free. Anyone can walk into a Tower, ask for help, and receive it, no questions asked."

"How does Unity fund all of this?" Someone else asked.

"Merch revenue, for one. When you become a hero through the Unity System, a portion of the money made off of any merch of your likeness or logo goes to Unity. There's also inventions, products we sell, or private donors."

Harper shifted beside Vivainne before raising her hand. "Why the name Unity?"

"It's an ideal," Artemis said. "And a declaration. Despite everything, we are united, with one goal. To protect earth and maintain peace. I believe it was also some what of a "fuck you" to a particular group of anti-super activists in the beginning."

Pip snorted. "Sounds about right."

Artemis continued to answer questions for a few minutes, going back and forth with the room before Pip raised her hand again.

"Are you going to talk about the different roles in the Unity system today?" she asked.

"I certainly can," Artemis said. She returned to her podium, shifted a stack of papers together, then looked up and snapped her fingers. "Who can tell me what they know about classifications in the Unity system?"

A row beneath them, a boy raised his hand. Viavinne didn't know his name, but he was in the combat class with Pip and Harper. "There are weight classifications, sort of like wrestling? Like, Quake is a Hero of Earth, but I know not every hero has that same title."

"Weight classification is close, so you're on the right track," Artemis said. "What we consider them are reasonable responsibility levels. A Hero of Earth is someone with both the power and ability to protect or save earth, if it came down to it. These classifications were implemented so there's a reasonable cap of expectations on heroes, to limit burnout and fatal risk. It says nothing about you as a hero, it's just a grading level so we can more accurately deploy heroes to situations where they'll be helpful. The system is far from perfect; there are a number of situations where someone with a lower classification might be called in for a world-level threat, if their power is pertinent to the situation, but on a day to day level, it helps with the operation of the Unity system. It's also part of the reason the initial five have been reclassified as Titans, since most of them don't fit our current definition of Hero of Earth, despite having saved the world."

"That seems silly."

"Maybe a bit," Artemis admitted. "But there's no perfect way of classifying powers or power levels, with so much variation amongst supers, so we've done our best to make determinations that reduce risk and encourage appropriate action."

"What's appropriate action?" Violet asked, hand in the air by the time she finished speaking.

"That will be another class," Artemis said. "For now, let's focus on the Unity system. In addition to Hero of Earth, there are several other classifications. Hero of Support is one you'll hear commonly. These will be a lot of your healers, transport heroes, telepaths, and even many super geniuses. The Support role is absolutely indispensable, and we would not be able to operate without them, despite them technically being at the bottom of our classifications. That is to say, your ranking isn't meant to be demeaning, and it says nothing about your usefulness. There's also Hero of Region, Hero of City, and Hero of the Streets."

Pip raised her hand. "How do we receive our rankings?"

"You'll be evaluated through your time in the hero training program and throughout your internship, after which you'll receive your official classification ranking. It is also possible to up your ranking based on accomplishments throughout your career. It's not unreasonable to consider the idea that someone would unlock a new ability within their power, or develop a skill that enables them to handle far more. For example, my sister, Athena, and I, were originally ranked the same. Hero of City. I am still ranked Hero of City. Athena is ranked Hero of Earth, because throughout our careers, it was discovered that she had a far larger range than originally thought, and her range combined with her control and her physical ability make her a viable Hero of Earth."

"But haven't Thalia and the other Titans saved the world more times than Athena?"

"They have. Again, it's far from a perfect system," Artemis said. "And it has changed a number of times throughout the years. I would expect it to change again, at some point in the future. But this is the system as we have it now, and the basics of how hero classification work. Any more questions?"

Vivainne raised her hand, information still swimming through her mind. It made sense, for the most part, but while she hadn't seen as much of the Unity system as others, she still felt as though something was missing. She waited until Artemis gave her a nod to speak. "What are the other parts of the Unity system? Aside from ranked heroes."

"There are a multitude of other roles, for both supers and humans. Dispatch is one of the most important. They work directly with heroes, tower leaders, and region oracles to deploy heroes to situations where they're needed. Sort of like 911, but for heroes. There are also liaisons of multiple sorts, who interact with government agencies, local law enforcement, insurance, and so on. Social workers, who help on a community level, offering resources, classes, support. Lab techs, who develop technology, fix tools and supersuits, investigate evidence as it is brought in. Disaster response is another area with both human and super elements. Then there are the Rangers, who deal with metafauna."

Vivainne raised her hand again, cheeks flushing as she beat the others in the room to the next question. "I thought heroes generally took turns helping on a community level?" From what she'd seen, heroes took shifts working on the public floor of the Unity Towers, interacting with people face to face. She hadn't heard about Unity social workers before.

"They do as well," Artemis said. "It's one of the responsibilities of being a hero. Preventing crime before it can happen, which starts on a community level. We will actually have a class on it, starting later in the year."

Vivainne nodded, taking the answer in stride as Artemis began taking questions from the rest of the room. She had to wonder, if she'd gone to the Tower earlier, or spoken with the hero who visited her high school, would she have gotten help sooner?

But then I may not have met Charles, Darcy, and Jordan.

She couldn't imagine being in this world if she hadn't met them.

A finger tapped gently against her hand.

"Hey."

She blinked, half expecting Pip to be bothering her, only to find Harper tapping the back of her hand. A slow smile stretched across her face. "I almost thought you'd fallen asleep."

"Just thinking," Vivainne said, eyes sweeping the room. Artemis had finished at some point, and Vivainne had to hope they hadn't gotten a homework assignment or that Pip would remember it.

She almost laughed at the idea. Of course Pip wouldn't remember it.

"Wanna get out of here now?" Harper asked, pushing herself out of the seat.

"Uh…"

Pip stood up abruptly, bumping into Vivainne as she moved. "You two have fun on your date," she said, winking at Vivainne before running off to deliver her hastily scratched out homework assignment.

Vivainne watched her run away, stomach flipping like she'd just been turned upside down.

She slowly looked at the other girl, ignoring the feeling as best as she could. "Uh, yeah, where did you want to go?"

Harper's grin widened as she offered a hand to Vivainne, helping her to her feet. "Have you visited the treehouse yet?"

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