THE MOMENT
Arlene was a bright, technically-minded woman with a knack for showmanship. And she had no idea how what she was seeing was possible.
Paragon, the world's greatest hero, was giving a surprise press conference. He looked amazing up close. His bodybuilder physique and bulging muscles filled out the white and red costume while his silky, crisp white cape hung straight down in the windless interior.
She'd never seen him this near. Arlene was the lead coordinator for the Paragon project, and she was always running the show from somewhere else whenever he made an appearance. Except not this time. She and the rest of the team were there in the audience watching this mountainous fabrication exist without them. And, in an entirely new costume.
They sat through the non-announcement of his new look, and waited for the press to get all the usual sound bites Arlene was used to fielding before only the project members were left. Then, the aging director joined Paragon on stage and guided him over to talk to the group.
“Congratulations, the Paragon project is being dismantled. No one's fired!” the Director immediately made that clear. He nervously ran his hand through his thinning, greying strands, which by now the team had come to identify as sincere nervousness. He was generally good at his job in that he let them do theirs and had never outright antagonized them. “You've all done amazing things, and you have jobs waiting for you at Sharp Development.”
Confused expressions appeared on almost a dozen faces, and they all looked at Arlene. She had the same questions, and she sorted the priority. None of them had heard of Sharp Development before, but there was an even more important question.
“What’s going on?” Arlene gestured at the handsome, still-quiet hero. She’d been watching him intently; they all were. He was breathing. His eyes were following the conversation, and he looked at her when she gestured at him. He smiled, but didn’t reply.
“Aury’ll explain that,” the Director smiled and gestured at another stranger approaching from the stage. He was a young man with curly hair wearing a crisp white blazer and black shirt with a red tie. “Team, meet Aurelio Luna, a corporate representative from Sharp Development. He’ll explain everything you need to know.”
“Thanks, Director. I’ll take it from here,” Aury nodded, and the older man waved at the team and walked off with an encouraging thumbs-up.
“I need to apologize first.” Aurelio nodded and took the time to meet every person’s eyes. Sharp Development’s processing follows specific protocols. Your boss fought hard to get you all involved, and I had to personally deny it. There are reasons for all that secrecy, but now that we’re on this side of it, I would very much like your input on making the most authentic Paragon we can.”
“Did you find a look-alike Super..?” Arlene asked. Paragon had stood there silently watching everything, and he focused on her finger with curiosity as she reached forward and poked his steely bicep. Then, he smiled at her.
“Nah, too much effort,” Aury shook his head. “He’s just an NPC. The Director doesn’t need a whole team to keep him scripted, so you guys are free to pick up jobs anywhere in Sharp Development; we’re a multiversal company,” he smiled. “You can go anywhere you can imagine; I’m sure you’ll find somewhere you want to work.”
“Wait… what do you mean NPC..?” Arlene asked. ‘Multiversal company’ also added a ton of questions to her mental queue.
“He’s just nanos running a script. Oh watch, just so you know there are safeguards. Let’s say he’s going crazy,” Aurelio held his hand out toward the hero. “Jenny Rocks,” he said. In an instant, Paragon disintegrated into white dust and gathered into a transparent card in Aurelio’s hand.
“And, once he’s all better…,” he tossed the card in the air. “Paragon Power Up!” The card exploded into particles of light and took the same full shape of the caped strongman who descended gently back down to the ground with a permanent smile.
“Who’s Jenny?” By this point, Arlene was so overwhelmed, she was just asking about the latest revelation. Except, she didn’t know how to process what she saw exactly. He’d been breathing, she watched him while trying to figure out what he was. But, he wasn’t normal, nor alive? It was easier to ask about a new name that might somehow connect everything else.
“No one,” Aury shrugged. “Just a random placeholder password. Whoever takes the scripting job will know how to change it.”
“So.. he’s.. like.. what, an A.I. robot?” Arlene was trying to work through it. “And he was made by Sharp Development… a multiversal company offering us jobs anywhere, in any universe?” She was relieved to see the rest of the team just as overwhelmed.
“We can think about it, right?”
“Of course,” Aury smiled. “I wasn’t expecting any final decisions right now, knowing this surprise was coming,” he patted Paragon on the shoulder. “You’ll have more informative emails in your inboxes tomorrow explaining more about the company. And from there you can make an appointment for a time that works best for you.”
“Then, I’m going to go…,” Arlene had a lot of thinking to do. She wasn’t the only one in a hurry to leave, but not all of them were.
“I’m coming…,” one of them said.
“Me too,” a third one followed. Meanwhile as they walked away, other approached Aury.
“So he has all Paragon’s powers for real?”
“Can he shoot eye lasers?”