not.” He does a funny little bow, though she doesn’t notice, busy reading something on her screen. Then she heads off without saying goodbye, off to do something important, I’m sure. Once she’s a safe distance away, Teddy exhales and introduces himself. “Hi, I’m Teddy.”
“I’m Claire. Nice to meet you.”
“Welcome to the madness.” He gestures all around.
“It’s incredible.” I sigh as some assistants walk by with what look like new Aqua Maiden costume prototypes. She recently announced on her social media that she wanted to glam up her look and would be revealing a new hero suit soon, and based on the amount of sequins and shimmer passing me by, the woman is going for bling.
“Eh, you’ll get used to it,” Teddy says with a shrug. “I’ve been here two years now, and it’s weird how all this becomes normal.”
Impossible. I’ll never stop thinking this is the most amazing place on earth.
“Well, c’mon, let’s go. Millie is heading into a meeting now, but I’ll need to be by her side when it lets out. You’ve gone through all the background checks, correct?”
“Oh, yeah, all five of them.” I smile. My gleaming record got me through with ease.
“Perfect.” We continue walking deeper into the facility, an endless stream of glass-encased rooms rushing past us. Teddy goes into full tour-guide mode, spouting off some facts I know and some I doubt any WarNat has ever heard.
“Our headquarters is a series of tunnels and offices buried under the Chicago Loop and surrounding neighborhoods, spanning almost four square miles. There are nineteen hidden entrances, each with multitiered security clearances. This facility houses all major internal teams, from training, weaponry, logistics, all the way to marketing, publicity, and philanthropy. We have about four hundred employees in total, each with varying levels of clearance.”
I desperately want to reach for my grail diary to capture all this juicy intel, but based on how Joy reacted to it, I decide to keep it hidden for now. Oh, how I wish I had an audio recorder in my brain!
We stop at the security office so I can get the badge I will cherish forever, but before I can decide on whether I should smile or try to look more serious and intimidating for my photo, Teddy stops me, passing his tablet my way.
“What is this?” I ask, looking down at a bunch of words that I know are in English but look like a bunch of gibberish.
“Our nondisclosure agreement. Nothing you see or hear here can ever leave HQ.”
“Nothing? You can’t even talk to your friends and family about where you work?” I can’t imagine not sharing everything I’ve witnessed here today with my mom, who’s just as big a WarNat as me, or Demi, who will surely get super jealous over all this. Not to mention the WarNat forums!
Teddy shakes his head. His hair, basically a shiny black helmet thanks to really glossy gel, doesn’t move. “My parents think I work for a law firm. It’s just easier than having them ask questions all the time. Besides, once you’re here, you won’t really have time for relationships, romantic or otherwise. I haven’t had a boyfriend in a year.”
Well, that I can understand. You don’t get to be secretary of both student council and Model UN by just hanging out after school or flirting with all the cute girls. There’s no such thing as free time when you have a dream to fulfill. I scan the document, but it’s all legalese that’s impossible to understand. I stop on a section titled “Intellectual Property Protection” with a line that reads: Hero safety above self.
But when I point it out to Teddy, he just shrugs. “Don’t worry about that. It’s not like you’ll ever be thrown into battle as an intern, unless you find getting the morning coffee orders particularly harrowing. This mostly means that you won’t do anything to endanger the heroes, jeopardize their missions—stuff like that.”
“I would sooner die!” I blurt out, and sign immediately, knowing I could never do anything to hurt my beloved Warriors. And with that, I’m handed a beautiful new badge that I hang around my neck with pride. This is the best day of my life!
An alarm goes off on Teddy’s tablet, and he immediately picks up his pace. “Millie’s meeting is almost over; we need to go.” Worried about getting there on time, he cuts his narration, leaving me to wonder about all the rooms we’re whizzing past.