7 h 6 AM 

Clark observes from a baffled eye the damages dealt on the most important archives in this library. A bunch of bricks and cement destroyed a huge chunk of the shelves in the room. The room itself, at the edge of the building to the right, contains something Clark is dying to get his hands on.

This nonsense has to happen when he could be so close to gaining access to the archives telling on his infamous dream creatures.

The mutations appeared in Atmos, out of thin air, about a decade ago. The first mutations were of indescribable power. As time passed however, their strength dwindled and their effects varied as new mutations birthed. After this, the general knowledge on those insane powers are misunderstood as data on the mutations became scarce.

Turns out the government is hiding some apparently jaw-dropping collections on the phenomena inside Vil de Ville(who would have thought), never disclosing this to public knowledge and only letting certain types of professionals near those files.

In the case of a young vagabond scamping around unauthorized, those top secret documents are placed under seals and transferred inside strongboxes hidden under the library. For an intruder to gain access, that criminal should be a master at disguise and be real quick about his operation, especially if he’s gonna create such a big ass hole that ends up tearing down other documents in the way.

The dozen employees inside Vil de Ville right now are all bound under the scrutiny of their director. Tayla forces them to clean up the disaster, as the police officially call back up to double the security of the establishment.

Barely any journalists on the scene. 

Some are suspected to be bought by the Atmos government and sent to carry out their duties in other cities. There is a grand worry that important figures fall prey to a mutant while traveling in Troposville.

The good side of this lack of visibility is that a lot less information travels in spite of the library’s wish to keep things private. This also means the employees have a much more fulfilling private life (I’m sure Clark would agree with this…). This also means that each employee has been handed this hefty piece of info on their contract: Nobody can divulge any information on the library, ever.

This also applies when somebody destroys a part of the building. 

Nobody, says, shit. 

Even if it would make some great television.

Tayla gives a gentle slap in the back of Clark’s head. 

He’s so taken aback by the situation his director has to wake him up from his slumber.

“Come on young man, let’s get to work. I need you to assist everybody, use those great muscles of yours to lift some debris and get some books out of the mess please.”

“Yes of course Miss McKenzi!”

Clark is about to pull an overly dedicated military salute to his boss, when he sees her leaving in the opposite direction. It’s obvious she’s too occupied. How can she even keep her composure in a situation like this?

No matter. Clark walks head first towards a huge chunk of debris, where a small batch of employees are at work.

Four employees are already suffering at full throttle to get rid of as much cement as possible. Amongst them stands a young woman, tanned, with two blonde ponytails, scavenging around the scraps for books, manuscripts and other important documents critical for the sake of the library. If anything, she’s pouring her heart and soul into it like a beaver scratching wood at breakneck speed.

Clark arrives behind the woman without her noticing.

“Geneviève, how’s the research going?”

Clark startles the woman named Geneviève so well she could have time to pull a backflip for the amount of time she remains in the air after jumping. 

“Goodness, are you fine in your head!? At least warn people before appearing behind-!”

When her ocean blue eyes cross the black man’s path, her cheeks blush the color of a freshly plucked strawberry.

Geneviève’s dream right now is for Clark to pluck her heart out of a soft bush filled with…strawberry filled hearts.

“Oh wow hey Clark, didn’t see you there!” she expresses as a means to apologize. “How are you feeling today?”

“Honestly, not good. This kind of chaos is kinda annoying at best and terrible for business at worst”, responds Clark to his colleague. “What about you, we’re you able to find anything so far?”

This man is taller than the petite Geneviève by a head and a half. His god-like physique does not help her to remain cordial. If she could jump on top of this man she would do it without a second thought.

Clark’s demeanor, consequential, full of weight, makes him near untouchable.

“To be honest, not that much”, Genevieve states. “There’s so much stuck to unpack it’s getting hard for me and the other employees to confirm what was lost. I assume that’s why you’re here, Clark.”

“Indeed”.

Clark simply walks to his comrades and asks them politely to step aside. Geneviève observes her man (she lives for the day that will become reality and at least half of the Vil de Ville staff knows about this. So much for keeping your life private). She peaks at him with a seduced curiosity.

Clark, waiting no longer, takes a giant piece of cement on top of all the debris with his bare hands. This thing weighs in the bullparks of 120 kilograms. 

No sign of fatigue.

Clark’s physical prowess is astounding yet accidental in its deceptiveness. He’s at peak physical condition and ripped from top to bottom, yet he’s not in the bodybuilding range of bulky. He also lacks the characteristics of those jacked up with substances to beef themselves up like crazy. 

For his apparent mass, this level of strength exceeds all expectations. His body should not be capable of lifting rocks this big with such affinity and suppleness.

It’s the same thing for the rest of the debris. He evens breaks some by punching them to make some smaller. This helps others keep up with him and more people can grab rocks and cement on the ground and clean up the place.

From this angle, Genevieve’s obsession is a bit more justifiable.

Clark seems strong, kind, and generous.

His faint smile keeps the young woman blushing. Prince charming in the body of a mysterious man.

One of the rare employees that Tayla brought from her own social circle, and the only one she met well before he was hired for Vil de Ville. 

A pearl Genevieve wants to admire closely.