บท 25: Cleanup: 546’s POV

The one constant throughout my life has always been the hate I hold for my name. It felt bland and boring for a world that was so magical. As a kid, I even believed that if I were called something different, it would finally make me important, admired, and most of all, seen. Those childish expectations stopped when I realised that it didn't matter what name I went by. It would never be important enough for anyone to remember.

Coming to terms with my mediocrity was hard. After all, I live in a city of superheroes. Sounds glamorous, right? Well, not for me. I used to be as ordinary as they come in this place: average looks, average family, average life. I've always been the guy who blends into the background, just a speck in a world filled with capes and masks. That all changed five years ago when my parents died in a car crash, leaving me alone to raise my suddenly chronically ill sister.

Now I know what you're thinking; no, I didn't gain any superpowers from some radioactive waste or suddenly awakened my ancestral chi. Of course, at the time I thought it could happen, but that was before compound V became public. Now, I'm just happy I didn't leave my sister alone in this world, especially after I learned the truth.

You see, even in a city of heroes, there's a dark side. One that no one talks about, where you either fight and be devoured or succumb and become a tool. That's where I found my opportunity to survive. While I may be average in almost every department, my work was not.

I am a part of The Firm—a multi-pronged organisation with fingers in every pie of New York City and beyond. Truthfully, I only discovered who I worked for by accident, and if they found out I knew their name, I wouldn't have time to blink before my sister and I disappeared off the face of the earth.

You might be asking yourself, how I'm so sure that would be our fate. Well, because it's my job. My department specialises in cleaning up messes or "cleansing", and we're generously compensated not to ask questions.

It goes without saying some days, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing, and today was one of those days.

.....

It was a typical start to a Monday, with me in bed scrolling through V-bay, trying to occupy my mind whilst impatiently waiting for a call.

'It needs to come soon. Last night was her worst one yet.'

"Ring!! Ring!! Ring!!"

'Finally!!'

I anxiously looked up from my V-phone X and rolled over to open a small hidden compartment on my bedside table that contained a pile of burner phones and a smooth, faceless white mask.

My eyes frantically searched through the pile and quickly located the ringing culprit.

'Please let this be a simple one.'

I grabbed the phone and answered, knowing missing the call would not bode well for my employment status.

"The midnight rain pours heavily on the city," I said carefully, ensuring I didn't make any mistake with this week's code phrase.

"Cleansing the hidden shadows of the filth that festers," A distorted voice responds before relaying the information I needed, "Cleansing on Lexington Avenue. Your ride is the van outside. Don't be late this time, Cleanser 546."

The call cut short before I could reply, and with a small grunt of frustration, I grabbed the mask and closed the compartment.

'I was late one time!!'

Whilst continuing to grumble to myself, I showered, dressed and began leaving the apartment. I was partially out the door when a whimpering sound like that of a kicked puppy stopped me.

It was coming from my sister's room.

'Her night terrors shouldn't be affecting her this early.'

Careful not to make any loud noises, I quietly approached, opened the bedroom door and looked over at the tiny black-haired girl sleeping in her adventure-time pyjamas.

At first glance, she looked like every other 7-year-old girl her age. Yet, at closer inspection, you would notice the thin hair, baggy eyes and sickly complexion.

'She's getting worse.'

With a worried expression, I crossed the minefield of toys and legos strewn throughout the room and reached her bed.

'One of us will slip on all this if she doesn't clean up after herself.'

Having said that, I knew I wouldn't mention it. After all, in comparison to her current state, the mess was trivial. Letting out a sigh, I couldn't bear to look at her twitching in pain any longer and tenderly stroked her hair to calm her down. With a sad smile, I leaned in close to kiss the bird-shaped birthmark on her left cheek that matched my own.

"Please hold on a little longer, Sophie. I almost have enough to help you," I brokenly whispered as I closed my eyes and continued to stroke her hair.

'I'm too weak.'

After countless doctors failed to treat or even diagnose her over the years, the only hope we had left was a supe with the ability to heal. Fortunately, I had saved nearly enough money to afford one of the G-men's discounted child rates.

'Thank god that some real heroes still exist in this fucked up world.'

My melancholic thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a small hand weakly gripping my arm.

I opened my brown eyes to the sight of a vibrant pair of beautiful hazel orbs. My sister had woken up and was staring at me with a scared look that bore a hole into my heart.

'Why does she have to suffer? What fucked up thing did we do to deserve this?'

"Don't go, please. The bad people were hurting me again. I tried not to be scared, but it was so dark, and you weren't there,' she meekly said whilst gripping my arm tightly.

As she continued to sniff and hold me, I felt my heart break even more as I knew I couldn't stay and comfort her like I usually do after her episodes.

'I hate leaving her like this.'

"They're just nightmares, Sophie. I will never let anyone hurt you, okay? Go back to sleep." I warmly stated as I reluctantly pried her hands off me and rubbed away the tears that streamed down her puffy cheeks.

"You promise?" She quietly sniffled as she looked up at me with hope.

'No one will ever hurt you.'

"I promise. Now get some rest, and when I'm back, we can have breakfast and watch TV all day. That sounds fun?" I replied with false bravado to cheer her up.

"Yayyyy!!' She responded, her sad face now beaming with joy.

I kissed her on the head and watched as she cuddled into the stuffed turtle I bought her the day we lost our parents.

'She's going to be ok. She has to be.'

Wiping away a few tears I could not hold back, I hardened my resolve and exited the room and apartment.

Once outside in the glaring morning sun, I immediately saw the van The Firm had provided and realised I would probably be heading to a nice part of town. They had given me the 'Boundless Builders' van and not the 'Plump Plumbers' usually reserved for rougher neighbourhoods.

'Shouldn't be too messy of a scene.'

Entering via the back of the vehicle and into the sleek-looking sterile section, I put on the mask that I had taken from my room and stepped into the white hazmat gear provided.

With everything set, I gave one last look at my apartment before jumping into the driver seat and following the Sat Nav into the city.

....

When I arrived, I saw my team had already begun cordoning off the street with some scaffolding. Out of the 50-60 people milling around, I quickly recognised the figure of my partner, 'KIA', also known as Cleanser 542, waiting for me. We didn't know each other's real names and never saw each other's faces, as The Firm dictated it was unsafe. However, it made it easier to converse if we used an alias. Turning the numbers into names seemed like the most logical solution.

"Hey, JIM," Kia said, her distorted voice sounding nauseous behind the hazmat suit. "Be prepared. This is a bad one, a really bad one."

'What could have shaken her so much? We've seen some disgusting clean-ups in our time together.'

I followed her around the corner, past a small gap in the weird barricade of dumpsters, and felt the contents of my stomach rise to my throat as I took in the gruesome scene before me. Blood and flesh were splattered across every surface like abstract art, and in the middle was a pool of blood that contained the remnants of a disfigured and dismembered body. The air itself was thick with the metallic scent of violence, and for the first time in a while, I felt genuine fear.

'What being could do such a thing.'

I'd seen my fair share of guts and bloodshed, but this was something else entirely.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my composure as a shiver travelled down my spine, "What...What happened here?"

'This is not what I signed up for.'

Kia could only shake her head, her eyes locked on the horror before us. I knew she didn't have the answers, and frankly, neither did I. Of course, I could see a supe did this, but honestly, this was a level of violence that, even after nearly two years on the job, I had never encountered.

"SNAP!!"

The sudden snapping of fingers made Kia and I jump in surprise and turn to see our boss, Cleanser 005, behind us.

"Pull yourselves together, greenhorns. Usually, I keep you two for the mundane supe attacks. But we need all hands on deck to return this place to your everyday junkie's paradise asap. This comes straight from head office, so don't ask questions, do your job well, and you'll get paid ten times your normal rate while also looking at a promotion. Understood?" He impatiently said as he dropped a toolbox in front of us.

We both quickly calmed down and nodded our heads rapidly in response.

'Ten times the rate and a raise from a promotion should give me what I need to help Sophie and finally have some money to play with.'

"Good, now there's only one thing you need to know. Do not touch the car. You got that? We have a man coming to collect it in a bit, and until then, you don't even look at it," He sternly said as he pointed towards an impala with a small dent on its side.

'Is that the car from the TV show supernatural?'

Despite our evident confusion, both Kia and I once again nodded and watched as Cleanser 005 walked over to debrief another team.

Seeing that as our cue to start, I opened the toolbox, picked up the equipment, and passed a DNA scrubber to Kia. Nodding one final time at each other, we got to work.

As I broke down the DNA and liquified the flesh, I couldn't help but reflect on my life. How had I ended up here, surrounded by the aftermath of a world I didn't belong to? Growing up, I believed that the heroes in this city fought for justice. No one explicitly told me anything, but after only a few days working this job, I quickly realised that those stories were just a bunch of propaganda fed to the masses. Nowadays, real heroes like those in the past are as common as honest men in Congress, and my job was to clean up their truth.

'At least I got some nice company.'

Turning to check on Kia, I noticed that she had stopped working and had her back to me.

"You ok, Kia? I know this is a difficult one. Do you want a break?" I asked her gently as I lay my hand on her shoulder.

I was surprised to see her jump at my voice and touch, and for a second, I thought I saw a small metal device in her hand. However, just as quickly as it was there, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

'I must be still tired from spending all night calming Sophie down from her night terrors.'

"No, don't worry, I'm good. Let's get this done and then get out of here. I'll need a long shower after this." Kia said in a lighter tone before taking out the normaliser. A device that makes the sterile environment no longer sterile by introducing controlled contaminants.

I gave her a weak smile in return that she could not see and bowed my head whilst doing my job. One thing was sure: even in this world of the extraordinary, I'll forever be a nobody.

There's no point dwelling on it; my role in this universe is set in stone, and I can do nothing about it. As long as I get this job done, Sophie and I can finally move forward with our lives, and I can spend money on my true passion.

Hopefully, they pay me before someone else buys that limited edition Soldier Boy trading card I've been eyeing for my collection.

'Now that was a real Hero. If only more like him existed."

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Author's note

Hi guys, I'll be releasing another chapter in a few days. This will be the last POV chapter for a while, as I want to get the story flowing. In fact, I was contemplating releasing this later, but it makes more sense for it to appear here in the story, and I've already written it. It is relevant to some ideas I want to implement, so I hope you enjoyed it.

Also,I want your opinions on whether I should use some plot points from the new spin-off TV show Gen V.