Pathline
Authors: Kaede Lazares
Pathline
By
Kaede Lazares
Text Copyright
© 2012
Kaede
Lazares
All Rights Reserved
1.
Appreciation
She stretched out with a long yawn, still under the covers, as Marcus got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. The early sunlight was
already
breaking
through
the gap between the curtains;
she
would have to get up soon
. The room was nice, there was no doubt about that, the city didn't hold back when it came to honoring its heroes. Luck
il
y
for her
they hadn't known who would be joining him in the suite for his stay. There was
plenty
to get through today, she was aware, but she was in no hurry to get started.
"
Appreciation Day
"
she sighed to herself with slight derision. Rune had never held much
esteem
for Appreciation Day, not in
its
fifteen
years of
t
radition, but today was for him
and she would find a way to get
through
it all.
***
The world had changed its entire perspective in
the last generation, since the supers
had become commonplace. About ten percent of the human population possessed
super
abilities to some degree. Those showing true power were recruited into
the
military
and
government, or
into
powerful private corporations. Those whose abilities were less than stellar usually found uses for their powers i
n everyday work. Appreciation D
ay had been devised by the government as a way to get the population to support government and military sponsored supers. They wanted the people to love their heroes. It worked too. It seemed as if every year the
A
ppreciation
D
ay ceremonies got more elaborate
.
T
he crowds gathered for days in preparation, for the chance to take part in the celebrations and to get a personal glimpse of their favorite heroes.
Every year the government chose a super, a
hero that
they felt had best served the
nation
in the previous year. In reality
the whole thing was a popularity contest. Sure, the heroes chosen were deserving of merit, but the whole thing was heavily biased. Technically, as the bi-laws were written, any hero who had served the
nation
was eligible for the
Appreciation D
ay honor award
.
B
ut
the simple fact was that only D
efender class supers had ever been honored.
When the supers first began to get notice the governments realized that they all seemed to fall into four basic classes or types of abilities. Subsequently, the classes were named after the basic abilities themselves. There were the 'Sky Walkers' who could literally walk on air, and were usually used for surveillance.
There were the 'Runners' who possessed super speed and a
gility, and were mostly used
for special maneuvers
. There were the 'Defenders', the favorites of the
public
, who possessed super strength and invulnerability and were the most publicly utilized supers
assisting in everything from private rescues to military assaults. Then there were the 'Wanderers', the least common of the super classes, they possessed the ability to move between locations in the blink of an eye. Maybe it was because they were the rarest class, maybe it had
something
to do with their type of ability, or maybe it was because they were most often used as spies, but
W
anderers were heavily
distrusted by the population.
***
As Marcus came out of the bathroom, showered and shaved, Rune forced herself to get out of bed. She still had time, she didn't need to go down unti
l the beginning of the ceremony
, but Marcus needed to be there early. The festivities were for him this year, after all. She smiled as she watched him dress, she may not have any respect for
the
true motives
behind the ceremony
, but she was happy for him. Marcus love
d this kind of thing. Being a D
efender, he loved to play the hero, loved to be loved. And the peo
ple loved him, that was certain;
he was the obvious
choice for the award this year
by a landslide.
Malik, as he was known to the
public
, was
currently
their favorite hero. He was featured in the press, sought out for endorsements,
and even had his own fan club. Rune chuckled to herself
as she pictured
the reactions from the fan club section when they saw Malik walk up.
Then she sobered up
at the sight of the ring on her finger. She still couldn't believe Marcus had convinced her to get married. It had all been a blur. They had managed to keep their relationship a secret so far, but she knew he wanted to go public, especially now that they were married.
Married
, the thought still seemed foreign to her. They'd been romantically involved for several months now
, and she had agreed to be his guest for the
A
ppreciation
D
ay ceremony, but Marcus had grander ideas it seemed. When he picked her up two nights ago for the drive into the
capital
he took a detour midway
and
had
somehow convinced her to elop
e. T
hey had arrived into the
capital
yesterday evening as husband and wife.
"Laura?"
H
is voice broke her out of her thoughts and she looked up from her ring to his face. She must have
looked serious because he was
frow
ning
as he watched her. "I'm planning on announcing our marriage as part of my acceptance speech, you okay with that?"
h
e asked, mild defiance in his voice.
She smirked in return.
"
A
s long as you get your award first, otherwise they just might take it back
."
She tried to keep her tone light, playful, but she was sorry to admit that a
touch
of bitterness seeped through.
The people did not love her, not that she minded, but they did seem to have come to the collective decision to disapprove of her existence.
As a
W
anderer she'd gotten used to people's distrust of her abilities, and of the supers who possessed them. She was good at keeping to the shadows, at keeping out of too much public notice, it was one of the reasons she was so good at her job. But sometimes the dislike weighed on he
r, more than she'd ever admit.
He sighed and sat down on the bed beside where she was standing rifling through her bag.
He put an arm around
her waist
and pulled her down onto the bed with him.
He kissed her lightly on the neck and said
,
"
Y
ou underestimate people
.
S
o a few idiots dislike
W
anderers, who cares? T
hey don't speak for everyone.
I think that most people would warm up to
W
anderer
s if they knew more about them and everything they do for the world".
She chuckled as he moved
on to
kissing her along her collarbone. "I think you overestimate people Marcus, yo
u've only seen one side of them;
you've always been
liked." She sighed, giving in.
"But I still think you should be careful about telling the public about us
, you can't predict the reaction it will cause
.
"
He smiled a
t her and kissed her one last time as he
got up.
"We'll see" he said
with one of his trademark charming smiles, as he pulled on his jacket and headed for the door.
She stared at the door after he'd gone, mixed feelings
in her heart
. She knew they couldn't have kept it secret forever but honestly she'd never thought their relationship would get this far. They were just such different people. She sighed again as she headed to the bathroom to shower.
She hoped he was right, but she couldn't help distrusting his faith in humanity, he had never been on the receiving end of its hatred.
She wrapped a towel around her as she headed out of the bathroom, walking back toward the stand next to the bed where her bag was, but froze and gasped as she turned towards the large windows that lined the far wall of the suite.
A man stood there, watching her from outside the
seventeenth
story suite windows. He wore a hotel uniform and as she watched, stunned, he pulled out a master room key and opened a door sized
portal in the window frame.
Put there no doubt for that very purpose
, she thought angrily as he stepped into the room looking around.
The man cleared his throat, standing
with stiff formality
only a few feet in front of her. "I apologize for the intrusion madam, but the hotel
staff has
received reports that a pet is being kept in this suite
.
"
She stared at him nonplussed,
"A
pet
?"
H
e looked around her, a disapproving frown on his face. "Yes, a pet, and as I'm sure you know this establishment has a strict no animal rule" he continued. He proceeded to walk around the whole suite, examining items as he went.
She snapped out of her shock and tried to rein in her anger
.
"
T
here are no animals here, as you can plainly see, so if that's all I'd like some privacy so that I can change
.
"
He looked back at her,
h
is disapproving frown deepening.
"
V
ery well,
enjoy your
stay madam" he said
,
with a cold edge to his tone.
As soon as he'd gone out the door Rune locked it after him, then went over to the windows and closed the curtains completely.
Reports of a pet
, she thought sarcastically, growing angrier.
What bullshit
.
Someone at the reception desk must have recognized her the previous evening and told management.
That's why he was really here,
she thought bitterly,
to check who Malik's guest was
.
She dressed as quick as she could, putting all of her things back in the bag ready to leave at a moments notice.
She hesitated
, she was there for him after all, she couldn't just take off. She left the bag on the bed, grabbed her jacket and scarf, and headed out. She didn't bother with the elevator, as soon as she was in the hallway she wandered into the street in front of the hotel.
