Chapter 57: Hard Decision to Make

Travis is sitting silently across from Jenny in her Null suit. And even though he's only protected by her anti-surveillance haze for a limited time, neither of them are sure where to begin.

He still hasn't decided if he should tell Jenny about what's been going on with his Unique Powers lately—or about Rebellion's Pump offer—so he let Jenny speak first.

"We shouldn't waste time talking about things that we can't change," Jenny says. "But I do have something really important to tell you. And I need for you to hear me."

Travis nods, knowing that Jenny is right—there's nothing to say that will make this situation any better.

"My investigation has taken quite a…disturbing turn, Travis. I just had an unexpected breakthrough—remember when I used that EMP to shut down Inherit's H-Chip during the last Mission?"

Travis nod, remembering it vividly.

"I noticed something when the EMP went off—I set it to target Inherit's specialized Power-generating H-Chip signature. There should have just been one signal on the scene, but there were two…"

"And the second signal was coming from Jury's H-Chip."

Travis blink at Jenny, trying to put together what that means.

"Wait, are you saying Jury isn't really Powered?"

"It could be that, or anything else, really—I don't know yet," Jenny answers. "But that's not what matters in the scheme of things—what does matter is that The Meek must have funded Jury's H-Chip Power-generator, since the signal was identical to Inherit's Meek H-Chip signal. This isn't terribly shocking, given The Meek's connections to the Victon campaign."

"Still, I decided to do some digging and I found that these unique Meek H-Chips also have a specialized transmission frequency, one that Inherit and Jury have both been using to communicate securely with The Meek. Once again, not terribly shocking."

Jenny pauses, obviously building up to her big reveal.

"What is potentially shocking, however," Jenny starts, "is that I picked up one more Meek transmission signal coming from the Contestant Mansion last night."

"Who is it from?" you ask.

"The signal is scrambled, so I can't tell whose H-Chip the third transmission is coming from," Jenny answers. "It could be anyone, really. And it could be completely harmless, just a regular Meek member on The Hero Project staff. But the thing is, the high-security nature of the transmission suggests otherwise. And, well, putting all of the pieces together…"

"Spit it out," Travis say. Jenny isn't usually this cautious—what's holding her back?

"I think this could be the anti-government terrorist mole we've been looking for," Jenny sighs. "And if this mole is connected to The Meek, I think this is where your Unique-Class tip comes in. If there really is a Meek mole in The Hero Project, they might be here to carry out some kind of terrorist plot against Unique Powereds."

Travis mind spins—could that really be true? And if it is, who does he think this Meek mole could be? He immediately begins running through the options, trying to find the most likely one. Rebellion was raised in The Meek community, but claims to have left behind his Meek roots a long time ago. Perhaps Rebellion's Meek connections aren't as in-the-past as he claims?

To think his idol could be working with The Meek is pretty devastating—and also fairly unlikely, given his remarkable heroic tenure. And he has placed The Crush here in the competition to help improve Unique and the Powered image…unless that's not Rebellion's true intention.

Though that couldn't possibly be true—he know there's no way Rebellion would work with The Meek. Period.

"I'm not ruling anything out yet—any scenario could still be viable," Jenny continues. "We're working on sorting this all out and decoding that third Meek transmission, but until we do that, we don't know enough to stop whatever they're potentially planning. And with the Finale coming up, we're running out of time," Jenny says, pinching her elbow.

Hearing this, Travis feels his heart plummet into his stomach.

"Which means that you and The Crush might be in danger here, Travis," Jenny finally says. "I wish that there was a way for us to send Jury home instead, but we both know he's untouchable, right now. The fact that it's down to just me and you for tonight's vote makes this ten times harder, but I can't guarantee it's safe for you here."

"And I can't continue to investigate if I get sent eliminated, either," Jenny finishes. "Which means I have to ask you to go home, Travis."

Jenny can barely look at Travis as she says this—Travis know how tough this must be for her.

Travis and Jenny have been working on this investigation for weeks, but maybe they both want to find something that isn't really there? Do they think there could be any actual danger threatening Travis here? And if there is, could he really engineer his own exit from The Hero Project? This is a pretty big warning from Jenny—but it also is just that, a warning, not a guarantee.

Still, if he doesn't sacrifice himself, will allowing Jenny to go home and stopping her investigation be a big mistake? Not just for him, but for Jenny's career as a government agent? Though he can't help but think that he has so much more at stake with his own heroic career. Winning this show would change his entire life….

How can he possibly decide between his dreams and Jenny?

"Are you sure this isn't some ploy to keep yourself safe this week?" Travis ask.

"I'm going to pretend that was a joke," Jenny says, standing up. "I know this is a lot for you to take in. You should take some time to think it over."

And on that note, Jenny walks away, leaving him to do just that.

What the hell is he going to do?

Earlier that day, before Jenny and Travis met up....

"Tell me what's your plan." Jenny says.

"Woah... easy there pretty lady... this is our first date, don't rush it." Retribution says.

"Shut up Retribution, I know you're plotting something, and this is not a date." Jenny says, pointing her gun at Retribution face.

Retribution then proceeds to take off his cloak revealing a massive fresh large wound on his body. "I thought you were interested in me, but maybe it's just my thoughts."

Jenny stands there frozen in shock, this the first time she sees a massive wound like this and it's still fresh.

"Shocker right? And you're probably wondering where I got this wound right?" Retribution ask. "I got this wound from my previous fight with Rebellion."

"A Rebellion? are you kidding me?" Jenny walks close to Retribution, she proceeds to touch Retribution's neck. "And you also have a scar across your neck. I thought you were invincible? rumor has it that you can't get hurt because of how hard your skin was, but how did Rebellion manage to hurt you?"

"I just want to say that you need to get Gravitate out of this tournament, he's in danger, The Meek is making something that can hurt all of the Unique-Class Powered People." Retribution says, he grabs Jenny's hand and pulls her closer. "Rebellion has already awakened his Unique Powers, and he's working for The Meek, and The Meek next target is Gravitate, so please do what you can to get Gravitate out of this tourna–"

With that Retribution suddenly passed out, he's not moving, and the wound on his body is bleeding too much. If this keeps up, he'll die.

"D*mn it! I need to call someone, he's the only one that can help Retribution." Jenny quickly calls someone from her H-Chip.

Later that day after the meet up of Travis and Jenny....

"Ah, Gravitate, thanks for making the time to see me," Rexford says. "Please, sit."

As he settled into Rexford's ultramodern green and gold sofa, he wanted to laugh. Because they both know this little meeting was mandatory, like most of his scheduled time since being on The Hero Project.

Following his meeting with Jenny, he has been trying to decide what to do all day—unfortunately, he's no closer to knowing the right move than he was all those hours ago. And time is running out…

But for now, it's best to hear what Rexford has to say before he makes any final decisions.

"Excited for tonight's Mission episode? It's a great one, even after that whole Hoshi Group disaster," Rexford says, sitting down across from Travis. "I must say, I'm terribly pleased with how our fans are investing in you, Gravitate. They seem to find you very relatable—your story is one that many people can connect with, in some way. Which is why I want you to do well while I have you on my show, I truly do."

"Now tell me, how have your Unique Powers been working since you decided not to take Rebellion's help?"

Travis should have known that Rexford would be clued in to this whole Pump thing—Travis suppose Rexford does own The Hero Project and The American Protectors, after all.

"You don't have to worry, my Unique Powers are working just fine." Travis says calmly.

"Well I'm glad to hear you feel that you have it handled—it was quite a show, watching you go up against The Crush. I can tell you it gets a lot of play in tonight's episode," Rexford says. "But anyway, I really brought you here to talk about tomorrow's vote."

"I was…disheartened that you ignored my advice about voting Popular last time. I know it must have been a hard decision, but if you learn nothing else from this experience, at least learn this: sometimes the ends really do justify the means, when you're trying to serve the greater good."

Rexford stands, beginning to pace the room as he works up a good dramatic moment. It's like he's still posing for the cameras, even though Travis knows there wouldn't be any in here to film a meeting like this.

"Being a hero is about being a figure that people can look up to. It's about inspiring the masses. It's up to us to make the tough calls, the calls that no one else can make. For us, there's no such thing as right or wrong, good guys or bad guys. There are only those who can do what must be done and those who can't. And Gravitate, we must be strong enough to do what works, what will produce results."

Travis blinks at Rexford—he's obviously building something with his grand speech, trying to affect him in some way…

After Jenny's info-bomb drop earlier today, he can't help but hear everything with new ears.

"Here's the truth, Gravitate," Rexford says. "Null makes me nervous. Of all my little heroes, I know the least about her—she is truly a blank page, which is rather shocking in this day and age, don't you think?"

Rexford doesn't wait for an answer, continuing to pace the room.

"You're Null's roommate—she requested you personally, as a matter of fact. I thought it was a rather curious request at the time, but I let it slide. Because I knew that eventually, being Null's roommate, you would see or hear something the rest of us wouldn't. She may be an anti-surveillance whiz, but her guard can't truly be up all the time. Am I right?"

"What are you asking?" Travis asks, not liking where this is headed.

"GG tells me you already know that you'll be nominated against Null tomorrow—it's rather unavoidable, I'm afraid," Rexford sighs. "And if it were up to me, you'd stay, Gravitate. Null's an anomaly, and I don't like anomalies."

"So help me help you—give me something I can use against Null. Something I can leak before America's vote tonight," Rexford says, approaching Travis. "Tell me who Null really is underneath that mask of hers."

Travis stares up at Rexford, his blood running cold.

"I don't know anything." Travis says, trying to act calm.

"Better think of something," Rexford starts, "because if I don't have anything big to use against Null, I'm afraid of what the press might uncover about you instead, with nothing else to focus on…. You know how terribly ravenous they can be—look at poor Black Magic. Oh how quickly the mighty can fall."

Rexford looks Travis dead in the eye, barely giving him time to sort through the series of veiled threats he just threw him away.

But however Rexford might try to disguise it, his message is clear, give up something on Null or he'll make sure he gets eliminated in some brutal way.

"The Mission episode goes live in fifteen minutes," a PA says, poking her head through Rexford's door before disappearing again. Rexford nods, turning to Travis.

"I'm afraid that means our time has run out," he says, grabbing his suit jacket. "But listen, Gravitate. If you do this, if you compromise now for this silly competition, you elevate yourself to a place where you can do some real good. Once we create The American Protectors, we'll have the power to save the entire world. Don't you see that?"

Travis stares at Rexford and takes a deep breath. Could he really tell Rexford that Null is Jenny, just to save himself? And after what Jenny just shared with him about her investigation, what's truly the right thing to do here? Could this be a way out of the competition to protect Jenny?

Or should he stand up for his dreams, no matter what the cost?

As his mind races, he thinks about what he has seen happen to the castoffs of these reality shows—no matter how promising they seem with the temporary spotlight on them, the moment it disappears, it's nearly impossible for most of them to recapture the same glory.

Crap, he saw it happen in his own career after the whole Veta incident…

Could his career really survive a 9th Place finish on The Hero Project?

Then again, could his relationship with Jenny survive this kind of betrayal?