a monster, a killer by any definition, the type of threat we guard against. You must have seen – he killed two strangers in the parking lot.”
Self-consciously, my hand played across my neck. Those men had been trying to help me, and they didn’t even know me. “I saw it.”
“You think we were involved in that?”
“Lady – Ariadne – whatever your name is, I don’t know you. All I know is that my mom has been missing for a week, that your guys shot up my house—”
“With tranquilizer darts.”
“—and then I meet one guy who says he wants to help me and another that grabs me by the throat and throttles me. Then I get brought here. I don’t know any of you, I don’t trust any of you, and I really just want to know where my mom is.” The smallest dab of real emotion escaped me in my last words.
“I can help you with that – with finding her.”
I paused in my tirade. “Do you know where she is?”
Ariadne deflated. “No. But we can search, and we have more resources to help with that than you do by yourself.”
I smirked. “I’m sure you’d do that out of the kindness of your hearts.”
“We’re here to help meta-humans like yourself.” Her fingers met and interlaced.
“And what do you want from me in return?”
She hesitated. “Nothing difficult. We’d like to run some tests—”
“Cut me open and prod my innards?”
“Nothing like that. We don’t know what kind of meta-human you are.”
I rubbed my eyes in fatigue and disbelief. “You keep calling me a meta-human. What is that?”
She straightened, portraying a certain pretentiousness as she lectured to me, the ignorant teenager. “Meta is from the Greek, meaning—”
“Beyond human. Yes, I know that.” Her face fell and I was suddenly glad of the endless hours of study Mother had forced on me just for a chance to needle this woman who I’d known for less than five minutes but who already grated on me. “You were saying ‘meta-humans’ as though there are a lot of us.”
Ariadne took a few steps away from the table and faced the mirror. I could still see her expression, and she looked up, as if she were recalling something. “There are six billion people in the world. By our estimates, less than three thousand are meta-human.” She turned to face me. “Meta-humans have powers, skills and abilities beyond those of normal humans. Superior strength, speed and dexterity are usually signs of meta-human abilities.”
“Is that all? Faster, stronger, more nimble?”
She shook her head. “Those are standard. Every meta-human has other, more unique abilities that manifest around age eighteen and are often hereditary.”
Something clicked for me. “My mom was meta-human?”
A flash of surprise entered Ariadne’s face. “Yes, she was - or is, depending on what’s happened to her – meta-human, but we have no idea what type.”
“How do you know about my mom?” My fists were clenched. I kept my eyes focused on her, trying to detect any hint she was lying.
“Your mother is a legend in our field,” Ariadne replied. “She worked with the Agency – a precursor to the Directorate. It was the U.S. government’s first attempt to monitor and control meta-human activity. She was a field agent, one of the best. She racked up an impressive string of captures of hostile meta-humans.” Her expression softened. “She saved a lot of lives – human and meta.”
“But she left?”
“The Agency was destroyed by a group of meta-human terrorists. Apparently she escaped before that happened, though it was assumed she hadn’t survived the attack.”
Understanding dawned on me. “You think she was involved?”
“She was with the Agency for ten years and disappeared at the same time it was destroyed? She must have been pregnant with you at the time, based on your age. So she disappears off the grid for over eighteen years if she’s innocent?” Ariadne shrugged. “Maybe she was and she took the opportunity presented by the attack to escape to protect you. It is a dangerous line of work, trying to keep meta-humans under control.”
“So you’re with the government?”
“The Agency was. That’s why they were found and destroyed. The Directorate is…not so encumbered.” She smiled.
“Shady. So you want to test me?” I asked with more than a hint of suspicion. “Why?”
“There are different types of meta-humans. Let me start with some history. You’ve heard myths of giants, fairy tales, things like that? Meta-humans have been around as long as humanity, and humans described their abilities in ways that spread