Meal time was one of the few opportunities there were for socializing. It was my third day since determining to get out of the Protection Force and each day, each meal, I’d been testing out different groups. Lunch was always a bit hectic since we were already a bit warmed up from morning drills and still had the afternoon to look forward to, or dread depending on the person and training regimen. I spied a table of younger looking supers and made my way over to them.

“Mind if I sit here?” I asked.

They shrugged and made room. I sat down and they started introductions.

“I’m Otis,” one of the guys said and then pointed in turn to everyone around the table. “This is Carmine, Hava, Mendel, and Goldberg.”

“Speedsters?” I asked.

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Hava asked.

I pointed to their trays, overflowing with carbs.

“Not many supers get to eat so much,” I observed, “that and I’ve raced a couple of you before.”

Mendel and Goldberg nodded as recognition dawned on their faces and their eyes found my name patch on my chest.

“You’re Nayak, the super who took down the fliers last week,” Mendel said with an appreciative nod. “I hear it’s because of you that training’s gotten toned down. Half the fliers were in revolt and threatening to quit or something.”

“I was also pretty close to quitting,” I admitted.

“Yeah, I can’t say that I’m sorry things changed,” Otis said. “I heard some pretty bad stuff had happened before, though I was never part of any of it.”

The other speedsters nodded in agreement.

“The main thing that’s different for us now is that they don’t have us running at full speed over uneven ground anymore. They’re letting us pace ourselves until we get more used to our powers.”

“Does that make such a big difference for you?” I asked.

“Oh yeah,” they all chimed in together.

“Before, we were tripping all the time and getting chewed up on the ground,” Otis explained. “Broken bones, torn skin, it was all pretty common. They’d just have a healer patch us back together and then have us run it again.”

“Yeah, I guess I did see that a couple times,” I said. “Makes you feel like they don’t even care about you. Like we’re not people to them.”

Hava, Carmine, and Mendel all nodded but Goldberg and Otis just shook their head.

“It’s not all that bad,” Mendel shrugged.

“Easy for you to say,” Carmine spoke for the first time. “I’ve died three times out there and each time they acted like it was nothing.”

“I got shot once,” Hava said, “because someone at the firing range thought I was someone else. It took almost half an hour for someone to find me and get me healed, then when I showed up for PT the drill instructor had me run extra laps for being late, as though it was my fault I got shot.”

“They’re just getting us prepared,” Goldberg said. “When we’re done here and we get deployed, there won’t be healers at every turn. Better to learn how to avoid tripping here, where there are healers, than to get wrecked while in the middle of hostile territory.”

“He’s right,” Otis agreed. “It’s rough, but going easy on us here isn’t doing anyone any favors. If it’s too much, then quit.”

“We can’t really quit, though,” I said, “can we?”

“If you’re under eighteen and haven’t sworn your oath yet,” Otis shrugged, “or you can refuse to obey orders and get discharged that way.”

“I heard they don’t let some supers go,” Carmine said in a low voice, almost a whisper. “It’s either obey or be locked up.”

I met his eyes and wondered if he’d tried to leave like I did and was told the same things.

“I’ve known plenty of underage supers who came and then left,” Otis waved away Carmine’s concern. “Remember Sabine? She quit after her first bad tumble.”

“How do you know they let her go and didn’t just lock her up?” I asked.

“Because this is America and we don’t do that sort of thing,” Otis countered.

“I tried to quit,” I told them, lowering my own voice now. “You know what I was told?”

They all exchanged uncertain looks.

“I was told I had two options,” I said. “Either stay here or get locked up. I’m considered too dangerous to be among normal people, or perhaps too valuable as a soldier to be let go. Either way I’m stuck here.”

“No way that’s true,” Otis scoffed.

“It is,” I told him. “If I had my choice I’d be home right now, but since that’s not an option for me I’m here instead.”

“That can’t be right,” Goldberg said. “You must have misunderstood.”

“They were very clear about it,” I stated. “They used pretty much the same words I just did to explain my situation. They’ve given me private quarters and a pay hike to try and keep me happy, but like it or not I’m stuck doing what they tell me.”

The table was quiet after that for a while as we worked on digesting both the food and conversation. Finally, Otis broke the silence.

“Say you’re telling the truth,” he began, “you’re probably an outlier. I’ve heard you break a dozen doors a week or something.”

“So broken doors justify keeping me against my will when my only crime is being strong?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You wanna know how many times I’ve accidentally hurt someone since I got my powers? Twice. Once during my initial evaluation and then a few days ago when I hugged my dad a little too hard because I didn’t want him to leave.”

“Your dad was here?” Hava asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“Yeah, they flew him out as a sort of consolation for keeping me here. Assuming I’m not deployed, I get one week every three months with him. That’s part of their deal with me. As long as I behave, that’s what I get.”

“Huh,” was all Goldberg said before picking up his empty tray and leaving the table.

Otis followed soon after. Carmine, Hava, and Mendel remained regardless of their trays also being empty.

“Any of you ever think of quitting?” I asked.

Carmine and Hava nodded but Mendel shook his head.

“It might not be as easy as they made it out to be,” I warned them and got up. “Let’s chat again,” I added and walked away.

I wanted to ask them right then and there if they’d be interested in helping me, but figured I would need to work up to that. Better to get things moving without jumping right into the whole, help me tear down this corrupt system. Besides, I didn’t know how trustworthy they were yet. I needed to be smart about this. I may have already said too much, actually. I just hoped none of them would go to any of the higher ups and mention this conversation. That could make things complicated. Either way, it was a bit of success and I felt good about that.

My positive mood lasted right up until I walked out of the mess hall and was greeted by two MPs who nodded to me and waved for me to stop.

“Private Nayak, Colonel Trenton wants to see you.”

“Okay,” I said uneasily and followed them as they led me towards his office. “What’s this about?”

“We’re just here to escort you,” was their reply.

Great.