THE MOMENT
"Oh wow...," Dara was surprised when she stepped out of the black portal. Glass skyscrapers brushed the violet sky; cars drove by at street level and in the air. Pedestrians wearing clothes with glowing accents rushed by without noticing her or Riot. "...I haven't visited an Earth this futuristic before; I forgot I could," she continued talking as she took in all the sights.
"This is one of my favorites," Riot replied. She took the lead and Dara followed her along the crowded sidewalk. "It's got all the neat future stuff without being dystopian."
"So what's the quest?" Dara asked. She agreed to Riot's invitation without asking the details. But, now that they were there she was curious. To her surprise, Riot shook her head.
"No quest," she said. "They have some tech here that might interest you," she added.
"Oh?" Dara asked. "What's that?" She was genuinely curious. Technology almost never excited her. Dara's mother, Ms. Sharp, could arrange any technology that could be imagined.
"We talked about it yesterday, and I got kind of curious about your tier too," Riot admitted. She turned a corner. "They have a machine here that checks 'potential'", she said. "It tells Zeros what they're supposed to do. But when a Unique uses it, it measures your tier."
"Oh," Dara stopped walking. Riot noticed a few steps later, then turned around.
"You okay?" she asked. "You don't have to, obviously. There are still lots of fun things to see on this Earth."
"No, I want to. It's just...," Dara took a look around the crowded street as if looking for someone. "..I don't know if I should," she said.
"Why not?" Riot asked. Dara sighed.
"My mom's basically God," she said quietly. "If she wanted me to know my power tier, she would have told me." Riot grinned and shook her head.
"Not that it's a contest, but I've known Ms. Sharp longer than you," she said. "If there's one thing I know about your mom it's how she works. Even if she is your mother, she's not going to plop everything onto a silver platter for you. But, more importantly; your mom is amazing. If she didn't want you to know... then you literally wouldn't be able to find out," Riot shrugged.
"But, here we are about to check your 'potential'." Riot put her arm on Dara's shoulder and pointed down the sidewalk. An arcade machine with neon lights sat in front of a coffee shop. "Unless something happens between now and when you put your hand on that..., I think it's safe to say your mom is okay with this." Dara nodded. She couldn't deny Riot's logic. Her mother was running the universe. If she wanted to stop Dara, she could at any time.
"Okay, let's go check my tier," She said. She strode forward ahead of Riot before she chickened out. The two girls weaved through the oncoming pedestrians and stopped in front of the arcade machine. It had two parallel grips jutting out of the center; it looked like a grip strength tester.
"Go ahead," Riot said. She crouched to insert some coins. Then, the grip lit up with purple light. The prompt onscreen showed Dara how to grip it and she did with all her strength. After a short countdown and several musical sound effects from the machine, the word [Error] appeared on screen. Both girls immediately burst into laughter at the situation.
"Waitwaitwait...," Riot said as she giggled. She shoo'ed Dara out of the way then inserted some more coins. "...maybe it's actually broken." Riot gripped the handles as lightly as she could. After the musical effects, the screen showed brilliant golden text with fireworks exploding behind it.
[Your life is: S-tier!]
"Okay, it's not broken...," Riot sighed.
"I guess she doesn't want me to know...," Dara said. She turned to Riot to make the comment.
"That's not necessarily true...," a new voice startled the girls. They turned to see a black cat sitting on the arcade machine. She had a white skull pattern on her head.
"Mom!" Dara instantly hugged the cat.
"Not true how?" Riot asked.
"It's not that I don't want you to know," the cat focused on Dara for her answer. "The problem is where and how you were born. You're a new Unique from Mars. Technically you don't fit the systems that this device normally monitors."
"But...didn't you fix that?" Dara asked. "You updated the universe so I didn't have to wear my mask anymore." The cat shook her head.
"One issue at a time," she said. "I wanted you to be able to talk with your friends. Knowing your power tier did not seem as important as you enjoying school." Dara nodded.
"Thank you," she smiled at her mother.
"Enjoy your day girls," the cat said as she flicked her tail. A plate-sized black portal opened under her and she began to sink into the machine.
"Bye mom," Dara waved.
"Bye Ms. Sharp," Riot waved too. Then, she burst into a fit of giggles when the cat was gone.
"What's so funny?" Dara asked. Riot shook her head.
"I know it's a disguise, but I can't help it. It's kind of hilarious...," Riot said and giggled some more. "Your mom's a cat!" she laughed. Luckily, Dara laughed too. She nodded along.
"Maybe so...," Dara said. She straightened her back and puffed her chest out with pride. She had a flash of doubt when the machine said, [Error]. But, that doubt only lasted for a second before Ms. Sharp appeared to ease her frustration. She promised herself she'd never doubt her mother again at that moment. "...but, she's also God."