THE MOMENT
"Don't you have to get back to the school?" Bradley took in their new surroundings and they didn't land where he expected. He and Victoria had a nice lunch at her place. They had just finished when she said she had work to do and asked him if he wanted to tag along. Bradley hadn't visited the Nexus Academy where Victoria worked yet; but, he'd heard it described. The quiet, deserted city around them obviously wasn't it.
"Yeah, but I have another job to do before I get back," she said. "I thought you might want to meet aliens."
"Aliens?" Bradley stopped walking and tilted his head at her. "You said they don't exist...?" Victoria nodded at him and grabbed his hand.
"I really like you," she said. "There's a lot we need to talk about; I'm used to giving certain answers. But, I want to be honest with you."
"So... aliens are real?" he asked. He liked Victoria more than he expected to. But, if she said he was going to see aliens, then their budding relationship could wait for a moment. Victoria nodded and pointed at something behind him. He turned to see several TVs inside a shop window. Each one showed a different anchor talking over a graphic of spaceships. Bradley couldn't hear them, but they had subtitles. It was the second month of alien presence; but, they hadn't attempted any sort of communication.
"They've been here for two months?" Bradley asked. It sounded like a silly question even as he asked it; but, it wasn't impossible that she knew the answer. "Why haven't they contacted the humans?"
"They have," Victoria winked at him. "Just not the ones on this Earth. We weren't ready to meet yet; but, now we are." Victoria hooked her arm into his and began walking forward.
"We'll get back to the aliens in a bit. But, first I want to talk about us," she said. She leaned her head on his shoulder as they strolled down the empty city block. "I think I'm ready to start dating," she said.
"Huh?" Bradley stopped and turned to face her with an amused look. "What do you mean start? What have we been doing?"
"I mean a formal, committed relationship," she said.
"Yeah, I thought that's what we were doing...," Bradley said. Victoria shook her head.
"That was fun," she said. "I don't date Zeros." Bradley accepted that it was just a technicality in her mind.
"So, what changed your mind?" he chuckled. "Is it 'cause I'm immortal?" To his surprise, Victoria shook her head again.
"I haven't," she said.
"But... I'm not a Unique...," he said. Victoria nodded and took in a deep breath. His answer to her next question would make or break their relationship. She looked him in the eyes and squeezed his hand.
"Do you want to be?" she asked. She bit her bottom lip while the question hung in the air.
"You... you can do that?"
"Not me, of course...," she said. He understood immediately.
"Right..," he nodded. "Sharp Development?"
"Yes," she said.
"There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you," Bradley grinned as he nodded. "That includes getting more super powers."
"Nice!" Victoria darted forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Now about my job," she pulled her node out and began swiping it.
"So, I kind of brought you here on purpose. I need you for this," she said.
"For what?" Bradley asked. She tapped and swiped at the node as she answered his question.
"Well, you're not a Unique yet...," she said. "I needed a Zero I really trusted."
"For what?" Victoria again pointed at something behind Bradley. This time he was facing away from the street when she directed his attention. He turned and saw a lone figure standing in the center of an intersection. It was a tall blue-skinned man that looked more like an elf than an alien. "Go introduce yourself," she said. She pushed him forward before he could ask why him. Bradley stumbled forward to keep his legs under him. Once he was balanced he continued forward towards the blue-skinned stranger.
Once Bradley stood in front of him, he was surprised at how tall the visitor was. Bradley stood 6'2" on a good day, but the stranger was at least a foot taller. He had no idea what to do and decided to follow Victoria's advice. He offered his hand in greeting.
"Hi, name's Bradley; I'm a Zero. I guess that's important?" The elf-like alien looked down at Bradley and smiled. He accepted the handshake.
"You don't know why you're here, do you?" he asked. His voice sounded low and gravelly; not at all what Bradley expected. Not to mention he was speaking in English.
"Not exactly...," Bradley admitted. He noted that the stranger wasn't in a hurry to disengage their hands.
"A Zero, huh?" the alien chuckled. "I guess that's not much better than being Minor Arcana," as he spoke, the alien showed Bradley his other arm. He had three swords tattooed on his wrist.
"I am Whinxyj," he said.
"So, where are you from?" Bradley asked. He was trying to spell the odd pronunciation in his mind; but, they were still shaking hands.
"Earth, of course," Whinxyj chuckled.
"Earth??" Bradley asked. He was surprised when the tall man suddenly let go of his hand.
"Frequency exchange is complete," Whinxyj said. "You may return to your superiors. As for your question, they have those answers too." Whinxyj nodded at Bradley, then he disappeared.
"Huh?" Bradley was puzzled. He turned around to head back to Victoria; but, she yelled at him.
"STOP!" she said.
"Huh?" Bradley stopped; but, he was more confused than ever.
"I'm sorry," Victoria said. "You can't come any closer. If we touch right now it would be very very bad."
"Okay," Bradley nodded. "For how long?"
"I don't know," Victoria said. "But, you have to quarantine," A red portal opened next to him.
"Oh, okay," Bradley relaxed. So far the only red portals he'd seen led back to Victoria's place. "See you soon, I hope," Victoria nodded at him as he walked through the portal; but, she closed it behind him.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled under her breath. Then, her hands began to glow with blue light and she focused her attention on the ground.
Elsewhere, Bradley stepped out of the red portal; but, the did not find Victoria's bedroom. It was a small cell with a bed and a glass wall on one side. All the walls of his cell, and the walls beyond were glowing with soft white light. A tall, pale woman in a white suit stood outside his cell.
"Hello, Bradley," she said. "My name is Ms. Sharp."