After getting the pertinent information from his mother, they went to sit down. There existed a yo-yo effect inside Ermis as he tried to keep it together while he waited for the secretary to finish.
He was concerned about being the 'odd Cape out' in his new life. He had felt it in high school because he and Jessica were the only friends each other had. Now, here he was, being registered by his mother, getting preferential treatment from his father, and being escorted by a Titan. From the outside, it was not looking good.
Ermis spoke within himself, 'Who would want to be on the team of someone like that? Oh, wait. My dad took care of that TOO.'
There were many advantages to having a family support structure, but it sometimes felt like a double-edged blade cutting back.
That was when Amanda broke her silence, "Ermis, listen up. Your father wanted me to give you a crash course into being a Cape, and you will get it soon, but you need to relax. York is your city."
The people around their group began to frown at her words, but they wouldn't dispute the claim. Most just felt it distasteful to utter such words.
Amanda continued, "Everyone that lives here would fight for it. Some Capes are mandatory combatants, but most are like you; they felt the calling."
Some of the Capes began to smile as she clarified; the city was 'his' in the way it was all of theirs.
Then she shifted subjects, "Your father has collected and prepared talents for you for a long time. Of seven, the first is your Physical Defender, the physically resistant Cape, Jeremiah "The Germ" Sanderson, B-class."
Ermis was aware of the position. It was a standard Party position listed in the code book. He was essentially a meatshield for anyone who needed it. Most often, he would be helping civilians or anyone without a significant physical enhancement. Most Parties had someone filling his role, sometimes a Speedster or a Telekinesis-inclined Psionic.
One of the things that Ermis noticed while reading the book was the intentional redundancy of Powers. A Party needed to maintain operational status while on patrol outside the walls, which meant overlapping.
Amanda was about to continue with the Party's lineup when she heard the distinct sounds of 6 pairs of footsteps coming towards them. She was happy they had gotten the message fast enough to have postponed their patrol.
The 6 Capes walked forward as Amanda welcomed them, "Howdy! I have your new member right here. We had just started reviewing your files, but I will let you do that." She closed the distance with them and asked softly, "It's his first day of school, so be gentle, would you?" Which got a few chuckles from the Capes surrounding them.
The Party's Leader sidestepped around the Titan, then stuck her hand out to Ermis, "The name is Banshee. I handle strategy and mental defense."
Ermis returned the handshake, "Nice to meet you, I am Ermis Jones."
She smiled and replied, "We all know you. Ermis." She said it with a hint of frustration about to be unleashed.
Amanda recognized that the time for gawking was over, so she ushered them to a private room, "Follow me, kids."
They all began following the Titan through the Lobby of CapeQ.
After a few minutes of walking and an elevator ride, they found themselves in a regular-looking boardroom.
Amanda and Sandy naturally took chairs at the head and let the group fill in where they pleased.
Banshee began, "This is fucking bullshit. We need a real Healer, not some child pretending to be one." She was about to lose her shit, their lives were on the line, and even with the political pressure that Director Jones held, it might be worth disobeying if she could keep living.
A few sympathetic nods rang out from the Party members.
Ermis was ready to throw in the towel when Sandy calmly spoke, "You have signed contracts agreeing to a safe working environment. We are not expecting you to endanger yourselves."
Sandy pointed at a short man on the team, "Adam, your hamstring was recently hurt, right?" He nodded, "Good. Then why don't you let your Healer fix it?"
Adam Garcia looked at Ermis, "Wait, what class of Healer are you? I thought you were freshly awakened?"
Banshee stopped the panicking with a look, then gestured for Ermis to heal Adam.
Ermis didn't look to his mother or teacher for support. He just needed to do his job.
Ermis' shimmering cloak hummed in glee as it was finally able to unleash its Power onto the world once more. His hand touched Adam's extended thigh, and the Power instantly began undoing the improper healing to the hamstring in his right quad.
Tight and unnecessary fascia came unraveled as Ermis consciously willed it. He knew it wasn't the main issue, just a symptom of something more fundamental.
Power began to pulse from Ermis' hand as the ethereal flesh grew over Adam's entire leg. He could feel total control within the space, like a sandbox game he used to play. It was different from when he healed Amanda because that was instinct, but this was something more directed.
Ermis scanned Adam's leg repeatedly. The body was usually an open book, but something was fundamentally wrong in the sense that all he could sense was healthy tissue. He muttered, "Odd." then decided to look closer. But. Nothing was wrong.
He took a moment and realized he needed more information, so he placed his other hand on Adam's clammy forehead. The sac covered him as his consciousness faded and his breathing stopped. He was under Ermis' total control.
Amanda watched the complete succumbing to the Power, something she had shrugged off with her own. It looked nice, almost peaceful.
Ermis flexed his Power, feeling all secrets lay bare before him.
'This body was indeed healthy, but there is a minor amount of scar tissue in certain areas. I'll clean those up, then add some extra cartilage so Adam doesn't cause damage.'
Ermis detached from his own body at this point, 'There has to be an underlying issue at play. I know there is something wrong here.' Then he noticed, 'Oh, of course, the leg length.' He had been trying to find the issues on a microscopic level, but he needed to look at the whole picture to fix the underlying problem.
He pulled back and slightly shortened the right leg. Now, the man was symmetrical, and it wouldn't cause permanent damage when he ran.
Ermis gave him one last look over and pulled back.
The ethereal light-sac retreated up and into Ermis' palm.
Adam instantly stood and noticed a change in his legs, then demanded, "What did you do?!"