—Roberto Tapir - Grizzly Bear—  

Roberto shook the worry off his shoulders, laced his fingers at the back of his head, and looked around. This was going to be easy. Anachronica was overreacting.

"And here you can see my very favorite latte machine." Mary beamed, stretching a paper-white arm towards a small reflective black box. She touched the icon of a coffee cup in the center of the surface, and a short drip tray and a white coffee nozzle hummed out. "Beautiful, innit?"

Roberto opened his lips. Closed. Narrowed his eyes, arms akimbo. "Well, it's… something."

After leaving Iara's office and recovering Rob's meager belongings, the group had followed through the labyrinthine corridors back to the HQ's common areas. Mary, Roberto's self-appointed guide, first took him to what she called the most important place in the HQ. Roberto expected to see weapons, radars, and red leather armchairs with oppressive, villainesque backrests. Instead, she took him to the breakroom.

Mary rested a hand on the machine and beamed. "As the largest coffee specialist on both Continents, Invidia produces premium quality coffee beans all year round. Along with health and dental care and a clear career plan, this symbolizes everything that makes Invidia such an amazing place to work."

Satina scoffed, raising an incredulous pair of eyes.

"Tap this button," Mary said. A lanky finger tapped the round green icon on the screen. "And the most delicious hot drink will be poured for you." She paused for effect, palms up to show the machine. It hummed as it ground the beans, then poured a dense black liquid into a cup. "From The New Continent Farms, directly to your coffee mug." She took the cup and offered it to Roberto, winking. "Here, taste it."

Rob took the white cup, then glanced at Léon in a silent question.

"She's re-enacting Invidia's TV ad." Léon smiled and crossed his arms. "She starred in it and is very proud. Aren't you, Mary?"

"I had to end the competition to take the part." Mary winked.

That was a joke. Right? After a heartbeat, Rob barked a laugh. "Right! Invidia ads on the telly. Blimey, yes! I watched 'em. Gotta say, lady, you're quite the actress."

"Oh. Thanks, Mr. Bear. I also saw you on TV." Mary narrowed her eyes, tilting her head to one side. "And I gotta say, you're quite the Hero."

Rob's eyebrows twitched. Was Mary trying to say something?

Satina grunted in disgust, massaging her forehead. "Let's please just move on."

The villain breakroom was exaggeratedly bright and citron-fresh. White bubble chairs hung from the rustic cement ceiling by thick chains, and white double sofas divided the room into smaller ambients peppered by flower pots of white caladium. It was like being inside the high-tech office of a successful startup.

It felt good to be there, but Rob knew there was much more to the place than the comfortable atmosphere showed.

When Satina walked towards the door, he followed. "Hey. Please call me Rob. All of you." He took a sip of his coffee and raised his eyebrows. It was nothing like the smelly sewage in The Heroic League. "Oi, out of interest, who are The Twins? And what exactly do you do in a villain HQ?"

"Besides drinking coffee, you mean?" Mary asked.

Satina clicked her tongue. "All right. I guess it's time we take you on a real tour, big boy. Let's see if you can handle a couple of truths. Starting with that." She pointed an index finger towards something at Roberto's back. "Léon, do you mind?"

Rob turned around. Between the refrigerator and the food rehydrator, a paper-thin holoscreen occupied part of the wall. The words on it formed a list of names and numbers entitled Rank of Villainy.

Before Roberto could ask, Léon answered, "This is the first thing you need to know about Invidia. The numbers here? Creds. The money we're making per month and how much we contribute to the company, directly or indirectly. Not only with money, but with influence, market value, anything, really, all based on an algorithm Iara developed. Screens like this are spread everywhere... she doesn't want us to forget." He swiped up, making the names on the list roll down. "Your name will show up here tomorrow morning when the system updates the data. After that, you'll have thirty days to help your team—namely us—reach a minimum quota. If we succeed, we receive a cut. If we don't, well. We'll receive nothing but our ridiculous base salary.

"See the symbols here, before each name?" Léon turned to face Roberto. "They represent each team. We all work in duos or trios, but we're all evaluated separately. Look." At the bottom of the list, Satina and Léon's names appeared in red. He pointed to the 4-digit number beside his name and said, "This is how much money we're bringing to Invidia."

"Not bad at all," Roberto said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Léon scoffed. "It's the bare minimum, which means we don't receive any bonus. Yet. Check this." He swiped down, making the list roll slowly back to the top.

"Shite," Rob whispered. How many zeros were there? Seven, eight… no, wait. He forgot one there. "How…? And what can I… I mean."