The Prospects by Daniel Halayko

him.”
    Alex’s smartphone flashed yellow and chirped, “Hostage situation at Wall Street. All available reserves, check in for information.”
    He tapped it until it stopped. “Third incident. Must be a full moon tonight.”
    “Who are the reserves?”
    “Local neighborhood vigilantes who keep their noses clean enough to get legal recognition. Lots of them are also backup members for the New York Guardians. Some of them go on to become full members when we have an opening.”
    “I’ll bet they didn’t have to be Prospects first.”
    “It’s a new program. This city is crowded with costumed vigilantes who are trying to become famous. Some of their turf wars led to full-blown brawls in the streets. The Prospects project is designed so kids like you can actually become smart and trained and then accepted into established, legally recognized teams under the oversight of the Metahuman Affairs Bureau.”
    Vijay chuckled. “Are those your own words?”
    “I’ve been an agent for years. Sometimes I talk like one.”
    “Think we’ll get called into action?”
    “Heck no.”
    “Probably better off that way. So let me get something straight. Your suit, excuse me, exoskeleton, was bulletproof, but not computer virus-poof? How did you get a virus in it?”
    “I arrested some extraterrestrial arms dealers.”
    “Extraterrestrial?”
    “Yeah, aliens. We humans can’t pronounce what they call themselves, so we call them Skreaks because they always wear gray creaking rubber suits and speak in squeaks. They’re built like tree stumps with legs.
    “Anyway, I wanted to find out more about what they were up to. My suit had a USB port in the thumb, so I stuck it into one of their laptops to get some evidence. Next thing I knew, my heads-up-display gave me a blue screen of death.”
    The building shook. The lights flickered. A loud alarm blared, followed by the clang of a thousand sheets of steel falling simultaneously.
    “What the hell?” said Vijay.
    Alex tensed. “That’s our building alert. We have steel sheets embedded over every window and door in the building. They seal up everything when we’re under attack.”
    “Like a big shell?”
    “Exactly.”
    Alex’s smartphone beeped repeatedly. He grabbed it.
    Jim yelled so loudly Vijay heard him. “Griffin Tower is under attack. Get the Prospects to the north entrance of the research lab.”
    “Me? And them?”
    “You’ve led teams into battle before.”
    “I just met these kids. Honestly, I’m not impressed.”
    “Let’s see if training them really was a waste of time.”
    “Where’s are the other New York Guardians?” Alex asked.
    “At the jailbreak on North Brother Island. No more questions. The Iron Pirates broke through our shell!”
     

Chapter Five
     
    “The Iron Pirates?” asked Vijay. “You mean the rogue engineer cyborgs who break into places to steal technology?”
    “Don’t know of any others.” Alex ran down the corridor to the recreation room. “Everyone, assemble. Don’t worry about costumes. It’s an emergency.”
    “Damn right,” said Deon. “I can’t hear the TV over those alarms.”
    “Mister new boss wants us to have a fire drill,” said Candilyn.
    “This isn’t a drill. We’re under attack.”
    Candilyn jumped to her feet. “Hot diggity dog! Let me get my whacking stick.”
    Deon vanished and reappeared in his Goldstreak costume. “Got dressed in three seconds. Almost made a sonic boom pulling my pants up.”
    “I told you to forget the costumes,” said Alex.
    “I ain’t going into battle in my jammies. I’m Goldstreak, damn it.”
    Trista opened her door.
    Alex pointed at her. “You, stay.”
    “She can’t,” said Jenny. “Her probation says she has to be in the same floor as the rest of us. What’s going on?”
    “The Iron Pirates broke through our wall.”
    “Are you serious?” Zany’s smile went from ear to ear. “We get to fight real villains? Finally?”
    “You’ve never fought villains