Just as the meeting was about to end, Ashton brought up something Summer hadn’t expected. Of course it made sense to look into potential other mental abilities. The two Ashton knew were likely the same two that Summer knew herself. Harper, on the other hand, seemed to have expected this request.

  “Of course. I figured you might ask about that,” Harper acknowledged, nodding to the papers she had given them at the beginning, “Those are your homework. It will only mention abilities and known use cases with no names or personal descriptions, but it will give you a better grasp of what your team was formed to prevent.”

  Summer looked down at the pamphlet she had been given for the first time. The cover was blank except for two words. “Case Logs”. Based on the earlier conversation, she didn’t have to ask what kind of case logs they were.

  The first two were ones she was already familiar with. John Doe, who they had just been introduced to, and Queen Heart. Both of those cases were classified as closed. Some of the others, however, were not. There were more specific power details of people that had been analysed closely, then there were a collection of vague rumors that must have been caused by some sort of power but it was uncertain exactly which kind.

  It was one of those that stood out to Summer. The power to completely control the codes and programs of technology. This was under the assumption that a line of similar cases was all related to the same person and power, but it made her think of MysteriousMaskz.

  The way he was always able to contact and find her no matter what, and how he always seemed to know what was going on like he had cameras everywhere. Could his power be something like this? Did that mean this string of incidents was related to him as well? No, it was too early to jump to conclusions. His power could be totally unrelated.

  Summer forced herself to focus on other things and noticed another specific and familiar case. Illusions. So The Purple Tortoise was included in their case category. Summer had been imagining all abilities that directly affected the mind, or controlled things remotely. Were illusions created inside their minds, in that case?

  As she continued looking deeper into the file she noticed other cases beyond the standard. Kayla’s ability was mentioned. So was the Smith twins’. There was also a case of someone who was just a bit too convincing, someone with terrible luck, and even someone suspected to be able to completely control the minds of others.

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  A lot of it seemed more like a collection of urban legends, but that might be all they had to go off of for a while. Their first case would probably be to hunt down one of those urban legends. Summer set the pamphlet aside and looked around for Ashton. The others had already left, leaving them alone in the room. He was still focused on his pamphlet, flipping one page back and forth as if cross-examining it.

  “What kind of case do you think we will get for our first one?” Summer asked.

  For a moment, she thought he hadn’t heard her, but then their eyes met. “I’m not sure,” Ashton replied, “I know the case that we will need to work on at some point. The mentions of the person that is a bit too convincing sounds a lot like the founder of that first hero agency that popped up. Despite being completely uncertain with a terrible contract, hundreds of people signed on without hesitation.”

  Summer hadn’t even considered that. “You mean you think they are using powers to make heroes join them?” she asked, “Who is it?”

  “I don’t know,” Ashton admitted, “I’m just hoping it isn’t another gift from our mysterious friend.”

  Summer bit her lip. “Ashton, do you think if I hadn’t approached him, if I hadn’t met him that day, that things would be different?” she asked, “I can’t help but think that things got to this point because of me.”

  “I don’t think the threat would be any less,” Ashton assured, “In fact, if you hadn’t allowed him to use you, you might have gotten the worse end of the stick. It seems like he was already obsessed with me before you got involved, and that was entirely my fault. I knew we were being recorded, but I lost my temper and quit on camera. That is what caused this mess.”

  So Ashton had been blaming himself too. Summer felt a little better, but also guilty for feeling better that Ashton was in the same boat as she was. “Then let’s say we are both at fault and settle it when we take him out ourselves!” she declared.

  Ashton smiled. “Sure. And after that, everything will finally be over.”

  Summer decided it would be better not to ask what he meant by that. She got a strange chill from his words, just like the day he had quit on camera. Was he planning on leaving everything behind again once he cleaned up the mess he believed he had created? Then what about her? Would he leave her behind even though she chose to trust him?

  Just then her phone chimed, and Summer checked it out of habit. There was a text from an unknown number.

  “Do you want to know more about who your boyfriend really is? I can tell you. I can even help you win him over for good. However, you must keep this a secret from him and everyone else. -Ned.”

  “Was that from your parents?” Ashton asked.

  In her panic and confusion, Summer made a terrible mistake. “Yes,” she lied, quickly putting her phone back in her pocket, “They were just wishing me good luck.”