Alia had class so Stu dropped her off at the hospital before heading to work. He poured himself a steaming cup of coffee before Chief Obi handed him a report.

He put his hands on his hips. “Where’s the girl?”

“Is she my slave?” Stu said sarcastically. He skimmed the report quickly.

“The Council assigned her to--”

“She can pursue an education and help an officer. I spoke with her tutor who said she needs to be in the classroom more and I’m sure the Council will--”

“She’s a non-Super what use is a degree from . . . why are you in such a mood? Did you fight with her over something?”

“No I didn’t.”

“Well it’s none of my business then, just don’t let it affect your work life. The hole was for cables that was connected to the DVD player.”

“Maybe Emmie had a hidden camera.”

Obi considered this. “There’s no rush to head to the storage unit and I need you around here for a bit. Wait for the girl to finish class and you both can go.”

=//=

STORAGE UNIT

Alia sniffed as she dug through the mound of toys and clothing that made up the majority of the belongings. A lot of it was charred so her gloved hands were blackened by soot in less than an hour.

Stu bumped into Alia and apologized before spilling what was on his mind. “The stir fry you made last night was really good. I liked it a lot.”

“Oh I mean if you’re busy sometimes you forget to eat.”

Stu slipped a note out from underneath a box, causing several boxes to tumble down. He pulled Alia out of the way before pushing her back against the wall. Alia’s heart beat loudly as she was level with his mouth. She stared at it and thought, if people knew what I was thinking I could be thrown out of here. She turned her head and pushed at Stu until he released her.

“I feel like you don’t like the suspect.”

Alia shrugged. “I’m a non-Super what I think is irrelevant.”

“Is it because of her DUI arrest. That is for the most part same in both societies.”

“I’ve always respected Supers and looked at heroes as an ideal to strive towards. Then when I started my blog, I started seeing these cracks and wrongs that Supers were doing that just fascinated me. The longer I’m here, the more I wonder why the cities are separate. I mean Emmie did stop drinking, she was trying to get her life together for her daughter.”

“I can’t really speak on the subject as I represent the government now. But I think the next generations always has the world the previous generation built.”

“--or messed up.” Alia remarked coldly. She reached the bottom of a cardboard box and flipped through a notebook. She paused as she found a page torn out of it. “Stu--”

“What did you find?” He noticed the ripped out page and sighed. “Something is better than nothing.  If we take this back to headquarters the lab might get us something to work with.”