Infinity Son(40)
Maribelle stands up. “Dude, no one cares about us.”
“I disagree.” I share my report on the positive engagement I’ve seen across Emil’s accounts and my own. People are rooting for all of us. They didn’t know Emil two weeks ago, and now they’re starving for more details. I remember what it was like waiting for the next time any Spell Walker would pop up on my feed, whether it was a clip of the latest brawl or even a casual sighting of them out in the world.
“We’ve tried the media route before and after the Blackout,” Atlas says. “My own account included.”
“You built your following by shouting out how many lives you’ve saved or lost. They only see you as a warrior. Let’s take it to the next level and make it clear what you’re fighting for.”
“And you’re the one to do it?” Maribelle asks.
“My platform has grown since Emil.” I can’t say it out loud, but it does sting that my personal fame isn’t because of my own spotlight. The tables have now turned, and I’ve become Emil’s cameraman. “I can get people to pay attention. We start with you all, and maybe we can expand to the innocents you’ve saved.”
“Not every celestial wants to be exposed,” Prudencia says. “All the work they’ve done to blend into society gets thrown out the window.”
“Everyone will have a choice to prove they’re not walking weapons simply because they have powers. They can tell their stories through my Human Power campaign.”
I give them the rundown. We lead with a special feature—Spell Walkers of New York—on my channel and every video will be tagged with #HumanPower. When it trends—and it will—we’ll throw the question back at everyone: What’s your Human Power? Celestials can share their stories. Humans can prove they’re allies and energize others to step up their game.
Prudencia takes a deep breath and looks me dead in the eye. “I want to believe your campaign will work, Brighton. It’s inspired. I’m not all that confident that someone who’s a bigot learning that Spell Walkers have dreams and feelings will finally view them as equals. Then there’s the fake activism, which is exhausting. People show up for a hashtag, spend an hour preparing a picture to post to prove they’re good, and then they return to their regular lives where people don’t swing at them.”
It’s a conversation we’ve had before, but my cheeks flush having it in front of the Spell Walkers.
“It’s worth trying,” I say.
“I agree,” Iris says, and I hold back a smile. “Senator Iron is using the Blackout to silence Congresswoman Sunstar. It’s unrealistic to expect Brighton’s campaign to change everyone’s worldviews forever, but maybe now is the time to try. This could be a big push to get Sunstar in office, where she can continue her work on a greater scale.”
Everyone is talking over each other. Atlas is on the fence because not everyone’s stories are going to be received well by the public. Eva is worried about what this could mean for Nova if enforcers and alchemists find out there’s a healer on the team. Emil wants me to think about how this might backfire on me, but hateful comments are very different from what celestials face daily. Maribelle is resistant until she realizes the potential of this campaign catching fire—with a bigger platform, she can ask the world if they know the identity of the mystery girl who survived the Blackout. Wesley wants to talk it out with Ruth, but he’s open to it if she is.
There are risks, of course, but the Spell Walkers decide to give me a chance.
Maybe this war can be removed from the streets and won online.
I set up my camera on the auditorium’s stage, facing two chairs against the black curtains.
The Spell Walkers took the night to sleep on their involvement in my series, and now everyone is desperate enough for change that they’re honoring their yeses. I prep them on how this is going to go down: I’ll ask personal questions about their origin stories and lives, and the more honest they are, the better our chances will be at gaining sympathy for the campaign. We’ll each film for fifteen to twenty minutes, and I’ll stay up editing down to three to four minutes because of my viewers’ attention spans. Emil is my cameraman like the good ol’ days.
“Who wants to go first?” I ask.
Between his active Instagram and convention appearances, Wesley is the least camera-shy, but even he’s tense as I ask him about being kicked out by his parents at fourteen and forced to use his powers for survival on the streets. He admits to abusing his swift-speed for personal gain, but he turned it all around when he met Atlas, who gave him purpose, and later Ruth, who grounded him with love. He needs this war to be over so she doesn’t have to use her cloning power to raise their baby girl. Wesley will do whatever it takes to be the loving father he never had growing up.
Atlas hugs Wesley before sitting with me and opening up about his parents being locked up in the San Diego Bounds after using their powers to rob a bank, since no one wanted to hire them. At ten years old, Atlas was acting out as he bounced between foster homes, but after the high of saving someone at seventeen, he ditched Los Angeles to make a positive difference with the powers he inherited from his mother. He changed his name, dyed his hair, and set out to New York with the air of someone enlisting in the military. He prayed he would attract the attention of the Spell Walkers with his heroic deeds, all tracked on his @AtlasCounts account, and he’s committed to creating a world where celestials won’t have to abuse their powers to make ends meet.