“Not sure how much luck you’ll have there,” Cyclone remained pessimistic about Tessa’s dream of recruitment.
“You leave that to me.” If Tessa convinced Cyclone, then she might also persuade the other gangs. She just had to leverage the right motivation.
Finn added to the list, “We need equipment and tech, including more hands to build. You got any mechanics in your group?”
Cyclone looked to one of his companions, “We have some talented folks in our group.”
“We should sit down and take an inventory of abilities. Not just Evo abilities but any useful survival skills. We can do a better job of putting the best people in the right jobs.”
There were a series of handshakes and cordial formalities, and then the meeting broke up into small groups to discuss the finer details. The gang agreed to her terms, and claimed to be on board with the mission, but she realized there was another agenda for Cyclone. Tessa needed to figure it out before he did. He would search for a way to exploit their partnership. Tessa would need to watch him. She figured she would need to watch all the gangs.
Norine approached Tessa after the team disbursed. She wanted to make Tessa aware of a dangerous Evo now in their midst. Norine picked up on psychic energy radiating from the blind woman at the table. Norine poked around to determine the nature of her power. From her best guess, she figured the woman was an empath. That meant she had one of two potential powers or both, which was far more dangerous. She could either sense other people’s emotions and intent or manipulate emotions. If she could do both, then she might cause potential problems down the road.
Tessa assigned Norine to observe and report if this woman used any of her abilities to alter her teams’ emotions. Tessa couldn’t afford for someone to be playing mind games with her team. She wouldn’t tolerate it on any level.
Tessa tasked Sam with arranging some scavenging missions with the Syndicate. For now, they would wait to plan H.I.V.E raids. Tessa wanted to see how well the Syndicate worked with her team before committing to a more dangerous mission. Sam extracted information from Cyclone and his crew regarding prime locations, and they outlined routes and logistics together.
Finn waited for the room to clear so he could have a few moments alone with Tessa. He beckoned her to follow him for a surprise. Tessa couldn’t resist what the technopath had to show her, and he did not disappoint. When he was searching the airport grounds, he came across a master control room for the entire airport.
Finn secured the central control room with the ability to communicate within the terminals and to the control towers. This room was perfect for security as a master command room. Tessa would have Sam man the towers and staff the master control room to keep constant lines of communication open. They could use mobile comms to keep everyone safe and in the loop and set up cameras to watch the grounds day and night.
Finn walked Tessa through the control room, which was on the second floor of the building overlooking the main concourse behind a two-way bullet-proof mirror. The room was protected behind a blast door and shielded from any potential assault attempt and lined with control panel walls, and computer screens on workstations mounted to the walls.
Finn pointed to a massive server built into one wall, “With this server, I can make almost anything happen. We can reach out and hijack any signal with the tech in this room.”
“Can we get back into H.I.V.E’s network?” Tessa wanted to continue to spy on the enemy. She wanted to discover what their next move was.
“I said anything.” Finn recognized his skills were valuable to the team. “We can hijack propaganda signals here too. You can introduce our mission to everyone.”
“Do you think people will want to help?” Tessa still had self-doubt. She thought she was doing the right thing, but still unsure if people would follow.
“I think more will join than you think.” Finn had so much confidence in her.
She wondered why. “Finn, why is it you believe in me so much? You haven’t known me very long.”
Finn pursed his lips, afraid to speak at first. After a long breath, he stepped toward Tessa. “When I first met you, you blew me away. I’ve seen a slew of new Evos come through Stonewell’s operations, and he’s trained them all to use their power as a weapon. Every single one came to the group scared and lost, and after they harnessed their power, they became arrogant and cocky. Every one of them, Tessa. It’s like their power made them better than everyone else, and they all developed an attitude — everyone except you. After I helped you discover your powers, you were humbled. Instead of acting invincible, you worried about hurting other people. Not yourself, but other people. You worried about your friends and family. You didn’t let the power go to your head, and you’re an Alpha. Most new Evos can’t wait to go on a mission and kill H.I.V.E soldiers, but you didn’t want to, you wanted to observe. It's why I got so angry when Stonewell allowed the adrenaline. He turned you into all those other Evos and ruined what made you unique. Your humanity. And that’s why I follow you.”
Finn stood uncomfortably close to Tessa and gazed into her eyes. For the first time, Tessa sensed there was something else there between the two of them. “Is that the only reason?” She wasn’t nervous to hear the answer but needed to know.
Finn sighed and stepped back, “No, it’s not the only reason.” His face turned a shade of red for a moment, and he tried to walk away before she noticed.
Tessa seized the initiative and
