Muse Silver-Green

"Your impersonation is spot on." General Allen and Mason sat in the darkened room, and I could barely make out their forms. "My brother planned an escape, but it failed. Agent Rock-Heart decided that only you, Holbrook, and I need to know his plan was unsuccessful."

"But isn't my mother second in command?" Mason asked.

"Your mother has gone out of her way to save your life, but she is more talkative than you think. I wouldn't have hired her if I knew she was a gossip. Do you believe your mother is able to keep a secret?" Allen asked.

"From me, yes, I do, but not from her coworkers, no. My mother always confided in her crew more than me, and sometimes she gave too much information to them. She doesn't want to burden me with her issues. Our last commander told me how my mother's first husband, August, died."

"How do you think he died?" The general turned on the light, but Mason stood in the shadowy parts of the storage room.

"August was powering the grid when Rob bypassed the safety regulations to save money. Mom says she loves me, but I wouldn't be alive if Mom's first husband survived. They met when they both worked for the Salamanders.

General Allen nodded and couldn't hide the venom from his voice. "I don't trust her to keep this from Zander, or her best bud, Commander Nickel. The warrant I gave you and Holbrook includes who you can and cannot give info to. But remember, my daughter is the lead agent and arresting officer. The king and three judges signed off on it."

"Why do you hate them?" Mason asked.

"Babette Nickel is a two-faced coward and won't tell me the truth, and while I don't hate Zander, he's not emotionally well. He joined the cult, failed at being a chosen one, and I ache for what he could have been."

"I never planned on telling Mom." Mason walked into the light.

"Hide how well you imitate Tolbert's voice from the entire crew, except for Holbrook."

"Okay." Mason turned on the other light.

Two and a half years had passed since I viewed Mason, and I was blessed that he was alive. My lonely boy, who suffered and ached yet always had a song in his heart and deserved better.

He was more toned than the last time I visited him. His muscles weren't humongous, but they were noticeable, even under his suit.

To see him breathing and alive was a joy.

My supervisor didn't understand Mason's worth because he wasn't a superhero. His writing ability came from practice. Mason wasn't naturally gifted, and he worked hard to create.

If Mason grew wings, he'd resemble my half-wolf grandson. Muses are forbidden to talk about our lives in the booth, but I don't care anymore. What gives us the only right to spy?

Out of all fifteen of his Muses, I'm the only one who kept regular hours and wasn't temporary. I have been with Mason from his first breath for ten hours a day, four days a week. Losing him as my full-time creative was painful, but keeping him alive was worth it. Mason is my boy, and I consider him family. My family.

Mason thought, 'Green, I know you're there, but I'm not sure if I trust the other Muses.'

"I'm alone," I said.

'Do not write anything that I tell General Allen. Please don't share the information with the retired Apollo. I don't trust her.'

"She is no longer with us, and the new Apollo is already hiding everything about what is going on in your life. We don't trust the other Muses, but they can't be arrested without proof," I said.

'If you trust him, then so do I,' Mason thought.

"Speak up," the general said.

"Nickel's fingerprints and DNA were compared to Vash Salamander's college record, and they are the same person."

"The Deb AI didn't appear until Nickel would've been nineteen. Could she be Deb? Nickel always refused to wear a swimsuit, but I didn't think it was to hide pixie wings. I thought she was ashamed of her body."

Mason hesitated for a moment. "Dina is the more logical suspect. But Vash was close to Dina and Shanna. I think my mother tells Nickel everything.

"Zander and our security head, Frank, confide in her, too. Frank is Nickel's ex. What should I do?" General Kitten Allen scratched his beard.

"Do not arrest Nickel, but place more guards with her. Tell her they're for her protection, and I suspect Deb will attack her, or maybe you could confess you still have feelings for her even though you're angry. I don't need her running."

"How do you know that?" The general asked.

Mason sat down next to him. "It's the devastated way you look at her when you think she doesn't notice."

"Yes, and I feel terrible about my feelings. She kissed my daughter's fiancé, and they caused a security breach. Your mom's too trusting, but so was I. I was falling in love with Babette, or at least the person I thought she was. I didn't care that she hated musical theater."

"Her feelings for Allen, I'm not sure, are a lie," I said to Mason without my full microphone on, so the general couldn't hear me. "She admitted that to Zander, but I don't know if she is Deb or not. Deb and Tolbert were disguised, and Nickel had the opportunity to drug him. I couldn't see if Deb was a hologram or not, but I think she might have been a real person."

'Thanks, I needed that info,' Mason thought. He spoke. "Zander is being drugged. Examine his food and meds." Mason stared at the general.

"Nickel handed the bottle of Knockout Juice to your mother. She almost mixed the bottles, and she could have killed you. I thought it was an accident. Are you shocked?"

"Not exactly. Nickel might still be in love with you, and that's why she is still hanging around."

"What about Agent Lace? What should I tell your mother?" Kitten Allen asked.

"Tell my mom that Nickel is a suspect and see if she keeps her mouth shut, but I want you to wait until I interview Rob. Make the others think it's their idea. He knows more than he lets on. If he helps arrest his sister, Dina, it'll make it better for all of us."

"Okay." General Allen left the room first. Mason didn't follow right away.

He and the others entered the penal ship's kitchen. Everything was metallic. Zander dragged a table and folding chairs into the middle of the industrial-sized room.

General Allen poured himself a glass of water and sat down. "Mason, you and my daughter are assigned to rescue the king's niece and nephew from being captured by Deb-Dagger." He showed everyone a photo of two half-human, half-lamb siblings, but their yellow eyes resembled dragons and glowed. They often swapped contacts out. Their mother, Kay, appeared completely human, but I guess they favored her second husband.

General Allen tucked the photo away.

The twins were pleasant enough, but they had a creepy habit of talking in unison when they were on TV.

"Deb wants to control the king," Holbrook said.

"Their mother, Kay, was married to a Salamander cousin," Lace said.

"Kay is Rob's competitor. My brother, Birdie, works for her. This is a conflict of interest," Mason said.

General Allen finished his water. "My daughter will fill you in after that mission. You may not realize this, but I have been testing you for months. Your mother, Lace, didn't want you involved at first, but she realized we could protect you."

"Mason is a solid singer, writer, his former ship's volunteer detective, and perhaps an okay actor as well," Commander Nickel said to General Allen. "We'll have him work on impersonating Tolbert's voice."

"Our recordings during the altercation should be enough. We'll give him the codes and information we have." Zander pushed a file toward Mason and a magnifying glass. "We also need you to look at Rob Salamander's college record. He actually left when he was twenty-seven. This was five years before his mother's death, not after. He fudges his age and is only two years younger than Dina."

Mason checked over the file and practiced with Holbrook for days in the guard's room on the soft bunk bed. His voice impersonation was off.

"My birth father used a fake voice. He fooled us all," she said.

General Allen attempted to fake the voice, but he was too high. I attempted not to laugh. He left, and Mason was alone.

I spoke directly. "Missed you."

"I missed you too, but you can't tell anyone what I said earlier. I kept some information from General Allen because I needed to find out why she lied first." Mason sat up on the bunk.

"Deb killed my old boss. The cult is here, and she was a paid member," I said.

My supervisor spoke. "Paisley has been overworked but cleared of being a spy."

I kept speaking. "The supervisors now realize how important your life is. I was right. Zander had a mission as the chosen one, but he blew his destiny. If you don't stop this cult, it could destroy my planet as well."

"But I'm not a special chosen one."

"Mason, you are taking a terrible thing that happened to you and helping others."

The past:

Mason's curse was from an old book, but he wasn't accidentally cursed. Mason's father angered Agency-14 by selling info about his stepson's superpowers. He bribed a weekend Muse to mess with the tech, so Mason could be gifted as well.

My supervisors blamed me instead of the weekend Muse, but they begged me back after a week because the new Muses couldn't handle him.

Apollo wouldn't let me tell the authorities what was happening. It was the only way she could discover where Lexi was. Mason's sister needed to be rescued. But we could never find out where she was. It was all a lie. My former boss knew where the girl was.

Lace was always working after the loss of her oldest child and desperately trying to earn enough money to regain custody. No one deserved the pain she went through, especially when her mother took custody of her children. Mason and Birdie belonged with her mother, and unlike Mason, I believe his grandmother is probably Deb, but I didn't realize it until this year. She could easily break into Birdie's accounts if she wanted.

Mason's father fed Mason brain-enhancing foods, medicines, and potions to improve his abilities.

The boy spat the red liquid on the floor. "I want my grandma!"

"Lace's mom caused our divorce, and the new orphanage won't give her back."

"I live with Grandma, and you leached off of my mom."

His father grabbed him by both arms. "Don't believe the lies. You only live with your mother's idiot family because of the court order. They stole you from me."

"I guess that makes Grandma even with you. The court was clear that your interaction is limited to weekends until I see my sister!"

"Such big words for an eleven-year-old. I don't have control over the corporate orphanages." His father growled at him. "You're going to be worth something. Why didn't you inherit my powers? You'll drink down this curse because no son of mine is ordinary. If you don't do what I say, the same thing that happened to your sister will happen to you." His father laughed to himself.

"You wouldn't even let us call each other by our real name! Where is the cabin? Where are you holding my sister? You fooled Mom, but not me. She is in a sweatshop."

"It's their right as the parent to change her name and move her, not ours. The corporate orphanage will put an end to those calls if you ask too many questions."

"I want my sister."

"Okay." He dialed.

Her voice was vaguely like Shanna's but slightly deeper. "We're doing a lot of gardening, and I have a tutor come in twice a week."

"Dad says I can talk to you if I try to gain more power."

"Mason, I love you."

His father cut them off, but he spoke to her. "I told you to forget your brother's name. You may never speak his name again."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Good, I promise you it's for your safety." Mason's father let them speak for three hours. "Please, don't tell anyone I'm allowing you to talk to her."

He trained his son for four years to move objects with his mind. Nothing worked. In the end, Mason told his grandparents because the phone calls stopped. Talking to his sister was Mason's only reward. And his father couldn't control him without her. They tried to pawn a fake Lexi off, but he could tell within minutes the girl wasn't his sister.

His father cut them off because no one else could handle him after that, and his Muse reading powers were worthless to the agency, but he could tell our secrets. Apollo publicly blamed me, but this was her call. The effects could have been worse.

Luckily, Mason's father stopped showing interest and visiting altogether, which Mason didn't mind because it meant more time with his grandparents.

His father spent two years in jail for the experimental curse, or maybe because of Lexi.

Occasionally a postcard slipped through, with the names redacted, but she wrote things that gave Mason hints. And he'd write back, and deliveries were by a Rag-And-Bone Merchant.

Mason and his mother kept searching, but the merchants wouldn't give names. Lace became even more distant, but she earned the money, even though it was too late. So, she lavished her sons with gifts and hired armed guards, trying to protect them.