They didn't talk more on the way. Aleks looked through the window, trying to ignore Diego's pulsing aura, everchanging from angry red to fearful orange and anxious yellow. It only started to lose intensity when they left the public road and accessed the secluded area of GSO, walled from the outside world with high hedges covering metal fences. As Diego turned to the window, a small patch of curious green started peeking through all the ambers.

The gravel crunched under the tires, and the van stopped in front of the main building. It was a two-storey mansion made of red and grey brick with little brown roof tiles and several impressive chimneys. Aleks imagined it must belong to some influential person involved with the government or GSO itself, but such details were never officially confirmed. From the outside, the house was not unlike many country houses in England. However, it was refurbished to serve as pensions for gifted agents for the past few years.

"It's... not what I expected," said Diego, whose eyes wandered from the peeling white paint on the window frames to a crooked, half-rusted rooster weathervane on the roof.

"I bet you expected something fancy, like MI6 headquarters in London, huh?" Toni laughed. "Sorry mate, we are far less important than that."

"But we do have more modern facilities spread around on the grounds. This is just our main living quarters," Aleks added.

"How many people live here?"

"We have twenty-five agents living here full-time. Many of us have families and prefer to live with them. But we also have plenty of people popping in for a week or two if some intense training happens."

Before Diego managed to ask more questions, the green-painted door opened, revealing a refined older lady with grey hair dressed in a perfect bun and a black business suit with a pencil skirt and snow-white shirt. As her dark eyes met hers, Aleks instinctively straightened up her shoulders. Mrs Callaghan always seemed like a stern governess to her. But the kind that could also kill you with your bare hands before you blink twice.

"Diego Esteves, I presume?" she asked with a friendly smile that instantly warmed up her otherwise serious demeanour. She walked down three steps with her arms open. "You must be exhausted. Come in, and I'll show you to your room, where you can rest. Dinner will be served shortly. I'm sure you're starving."

"I'm starving too!" Toni chipped in.

Mrs Callaghan was already herding Diego towards the house, but she looked over her shoulders, her face returning to its stern, usual self.

"You know the rules, Antoni. Debriefing first, dinner later. They are waiting for you in Midnight House."

Toni groaned. "I will surely starve before debriefing is over!"

Mrs Callaghan pointedly ignored him, closing the doors behind Diego.

Aleks cocked her head. "Midnight House? That's odd. We've never been invited there."

Toni grinned, his suffering immediately forgotten. "That's because we've been invited to play in the big league!"

Aleks only raised a brow.

"Oh, come on, Ola! You are smart. You must have seen this coming. Because of this mishap with the deviant today, we are suddenly in the middle of the main kidnapping investigation! We are important witnesses, and our input is invaluable!"

Aleks snorted and moved down the gravel path winding around the main building. "You are so full of yourself. The fact that they need our report doesn't mean they will move us to that case. I think you're far too optimistic."

"And I think you are not optimistic enough!" Toni laughed, catching up with her. Once they circled the mansion, the dark shape of numerous, more modern buildings loomed in the distance ahead. "We are totally ready to get a promotion. We've been on top of our division for what, two years now? They can't treat us as newbie agents forever. They can't afford to waste our potential for tracking down and extracting newly gifted. Not when Rioters are up to no good, and it's clear they are short-staffed with gifted agents."

Aleks couldn't help but smile. Her twin's enthusiasm was contagious. She had to admit that his line of argumentation made sense. They've been in their current division for a while and were more than ready to move on to more challenging and vital tasks. But she was always cautious not to keep her expectations too high. "And you think all those highly experienced agents need our help?"

"Of course! You and me, dear sis"─he nudged her with his elbow─"are a powerhouse together. They would be foolish not to see that. You know I'm right."

"Fine, I admit we are good. But you better wipe that stupid grin off your face before we come in."

Midnight House looked much different than the main living quarters. It had only two stories and covered more ground, expanding sideways instead of upwards. Built recently, it also had a flat roof and black and white elevation, with reflective windows that made it impossible to see what was happening inside. It was the main operational base for GSO management, and only top divisions worked here.

A dark-tinted glass door opened sideways, revealing a utilitarian hallway with smooth black tiles on the floor and white-painted walls.

Aleks straightened her back and looked at Toni.

"Are you ready?"

"Always. After you." He gestured for her to go first with a boyish grin.

At the end of the hallway, a young woman in a navy business suit awaited them with a friendly smile on her pretty face. She gestured to the left turn of the corridor. "They are waiting for you in the operations room. Third door on the right. Allow me to take your coats."

Aleks nodded and swiftly took off her trench coat, and Toni did the same with his green varsity jacket with white sleeves. They thanked the woman and moved towards indicated doors. Aleks wiped her sweaty hands on her dark jeans. She felt oddly inadequate being here, where all the most important people in GSO worked.

"Hey." Toni put a big comforting hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed. "We deserve to be here."

She smiled, thankful for his presence. They might bicker a lot, and sometimes they couldn't be in one room without arguing, but they were twins, and for good or bad, they knew each other better than anyone else. Aleks couldn't ask to have a better person at her side to face any adversity. She gave him a curt nod and opened the door.

The meeting room was rectangular, with a long table and chairs in the middle and the walls covered with maps, photos and documents. Aleks' eyes were immediately pulled into one board full of images of men and women. The known deviants. The picture in the middle, showing a rugged man in a long leather coat, the one they just fought, was now crossed over with a big red X.

Aleks blinked rapidly to ward off the recent memories. Her skin still tingled and was a little itchy from that encounter. Instead, she forced her face to a neutral expression and turned to face the people gathered in the room. The men and women at the table were the top GSO agents, the ones that all recruits looked up to.

Stephen Morris, a middle-aged man with a scar on his square jaw, was one of the first agents of GSO. He worked for MI6 before his gift manifested. With highly enhanced strength and speed mixed with his experience, Stephen quickly became a top agent and one of the leaders of the newly founded agency. He was looking at some files and tapping his pen at the paper; his focused navy aura was prickled with rusty patches of annoyance and lime blotches of impatience. 

A beautiful woman with long black hair and olive skin touched his arm and whispered something in his ear. Concetta Salvi was another star agent. Her power was hard to qualify, but she seemed to have some special connection to the earth. She could make the plants grow, but she could also cause earthquakes of magnitudes so extensive they could destroy whole cities. Aleks was very glad Concetta was on their side.

Each of the ten people gathered at the table was gifted, and all their talents were extraordinary. Speed, wind control, flight, teleportation─all those skills were stuff right out of comic books, and Aleks could feel her own aura tinting with a jade tone of envy. She was glad no one else could see it.

Studying a map of London covered in red lines and dots, Regan eventually turned to look at them and grunted.

"Oh, you're here. Good. Let's get started then."

Everyone stopped their chatter and whatever they were focused on, and all eyes turned to newcomers. A shiver ran down Aleks' spine, and she closed her hands into fists, so no one would notice they were shaking.

"I've already briefed everyone of what transpired today on what"─he made quotation marks with his fingers─"was supposed to be our standard first contact mission."

Only now, Aleks noticed that the table was littered with photos of the charred body of the deviant and the damage he caused in an underground shelter.

"Toni, tell us about your encounter with the deviant."

Antoni grunted and started his report, retelling everything that transpired from when they began tailing Diego to the abrupt end of the deviant. His back was straight, his chin up and his voice a pitch lower than usual. Aleks' mouth quirked in a little smile. She didn't need to look at his aura to know he was just as anxious and apprehensive to be here as she was. When he finished, a brief silence filled the room.

"Your courage and quick thinking are most impressive," Stephen said, his narrow lips showing the briefest smile. "Taking on the deviant with powers of this magnitude, and not only standing your ground but also besting him... I did not expect that from an agent as young as you."

Toni puffed out his chest straightening even more. "Thank you, sir. Anyone would do the same in my position."

"No need to be modest," Concetta said in her velvety voice. "I think it's high time we start using your potential better."

"Can we please stay on topic here?" asked an annoyed voice. Aleks turned to look at Zeleke Ashenafi, a stunning woman with high cheekbones, russet skin, and piercing dark eyes that seemed as old as the world itself. Even her dark hair, plaited in dozens of little braids and decorated with colourful threads and beads, did nothing to make her less imposing. Her gift was enhanced eidetic memory and general brainpower. She was a leading researcher in GSO, and the rumours had it she knew everything about everyone and never forgot anything she saw. And now her heavy gaze was on Aleks. "I get that you all were very impressed with this young man and how manly and powerful he is. But I'm far more interested in you, Aleks."

A sweat pearled on Aleks' brow. "What do you mean, ma'am?"

"You were stranded with the deviant for about ten minutes and held your ground, keeping the civilian safe even though you have no combative gifts." She looked pointedly at Stephen and Concetta. "That's what we should call impressive. But getting back to the topic. Aleks, tell us everything from when the deviant started pursuing you until Antoni arrived."

Aleks reported as best as she could, trying not to omit any detail that could be important. As she talked, the faces of the gathered people were turning more sombre.

"You had... a fascinating conversation with the deviant, it seems." Zeleke clicked her pen, and her eyes never left Aleks. "What are your thoughts on that?"

"Can I speak plainly, ma'am?"

"Go ahead."

"I think this deviant knew far too much about GSO. He knew what Toni's and my gift were, and this is not easily accessed information. He also knew Diego was with me. I've heard he and Rioters' goons have been tailing him for some time, but I think it is safe to assume they have some way of tracking the gifted. Or they somehow got access to an already existing base."

"You were supposed to speak plainly," Regan noted. "Say it."

Aleks took a deep breath. "I think there are two most likely explanations. It's either Rioters managed to hack our systems and got into our databases or...." She looked at Regan for courage, and he gave her a slight nod. "Or we have Rioters' spy in GSO."