Chapter 3

A small figure stepped out into a massive penthouse suite. Water dripped to the marble floor from her nude body as she finished wrapping her hair up in a towel. She had just taken a long and hot shower as she didn’t know how long her private backup generators would last. They had been running nonstop for the past two, now coming up on three days. The large reserve of gas that it has had to be nearing its end. If she was about to be plunged into the dark she would enjoy the lights as long as she could.
“Lights Seventy Five Percent!” She called out as she walked to her bar and began to pour herself a small glass of Tullibardine ‘52.
The lights dimmed a small, but perceivable amount. She stared at the dark liquid and walked to the wall spanning window overlooking Carver City. She Took a small sip and held the alcohol in her mouth. She allowed the smooth aroma to wash over her tongue before swallowing it.
“Music Thelonious Monk, Random, Volume Fifty Percent!” She said out as a sound system began to play, the sweet sounds of Ugly Beauty wafting through the air.
The girl raised her free hand up and slowly pulled the towel from her head and let it drape over her shoulders. She closed her eyes and listened intently, remembering fondly watching this being performed live back in 1968. She smiled again and took another drink. Her eyes slowly opened, she looked down at the small trash can fires that seemed to litter every street. She then jumped a little as a loud knock came at the entrance door.
“... Volume Twenty Five Percent! Outside Intercom On!” She said out as she looked to a large flat screen on a far wall as it flicked on with a feed of right outside the door.
The could see half of a face close to the camera. She sighed as she could already tell who it was from the scar over their eye.
“Thomas? For what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked as the man looked around and then at the camera.
“Elizabeth, can we talk?” He asked.
“I’m not really in a presentable state right now and it’s quite late.” She said not really wanting to talk to him.
“This is important. I don’t care what your bed head looks like.” He said with a sigh.
Elizabeth paused for a moment but then sighed.
“Fine.” She said and pulled the towel from her shoulders and wrapped it around herself again and began to walk to her room.
“Front Entrance Unlock!” She said out and an audible click could be heard from the door.
Thomas turned the handle and opened the door. Elizabeth turned to greet him. He stopped walking as soon as he saw her walking, half-naked, towards her room and turned his head away.
“Goddamnit, Eliza! You could have just said you weren't dressed.” He said raising his hand to shield his eyes a bit.
Elizabeth looked back at him, small droplets of water still clinging to her forehead. Her appearance is incredibly deceiving. Despite being the oldest living person on the planet, she had but the body of a 14-year-old. She sighed and rolled her eyes and took another drink as she walked into her bedroom.
“You act as if you’ve never seen a naked woman before.” She said.
“Maybe once you act like a woman...” He said back to her.
Elizabeth stopped inside the bedroom and glared back at him through the open door. She opened her mouth about to tell him that his brother had better taste in woman but thankfully she stopped herself. She turned back around and disappeared into her room. Thomas walked over to the window and peered out into the darkness. He turned his head and looked over at the bar. There were a few empty bottles of wines of various vintages. He walked over and picked up one of the bottles and rolled it in his hand. He sighed and shook his head.
“If you were thirsty, you could just ask.” He heard Elizabeth say from behind him.
She walked out of her room wearing a red sundress. Strands of her damp black hair stuck to her forehead as she ran her hands through it to push it back. She walked up beside him and took out two crystal glasses and put it on the countertop and then began to pour more Tullibardine.
“I’m not here because I wanted to drink with you.” He said to her.
“Too bad.” She said as she pushed one of the glasses to him.
Thomas took a deep breath and looked at her. He let the air escape from his lungs in defeat and took the glass.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk about. The anniversary isn’t for another two months. I understand that your mother doesn't want me there but I sti-” Elizabeth started, but was interrupted by Thomas.
“I’m not here about Ira. Why do you always have to bring him up when we talk? Christ!” He said taking a drink.
Elizabeth was silent for a few moments and took a drink herself. Thomas sighed and looked over at her.
“Sorry... Its been a stressful couple of days. I’m here on Association business.” He told her.
“What? You know I don’t deal with the UHA anymore. What do they want with me?” She asked a bit annoyed.
“We lost all contact with Warden and his team. We haven’t heard from them since they went up to confront that alien mothership.” He said to her.
“They went up to the mothership? So were they responsible for all the other ships stopping?” She asked.
“Seems that way. All reports seem to show that the mothership was destroyed. It’s been two days and we haven’t heard back from any of them.” He said.
“Well… Maybe they landed somewhere else and just can’t check in? I mean, phones and internet are all down so...” She said as she took a drink.
“Global Telenet was established earlier today. No one anywhere has seen them.” He said.
“Global Telenet?” She asked.
“Oh right…” Thomas as sighing and took another drink.
“Global Telenet was designed after you left the UHA. Think of it a sort of Telepathic internet. One Telepath connects themselves to three others, and those three connect themselves to three more, and so on and so forth.” He explained.
“You got other countries to agree to open telepathic communications?” She asked impressed.
“It wasn’t easy, all our allies agreed to it pretty quickly but the Soviets were a bit harder to convince.” He said, taking another swig.
“In the end, they agreed but only in case of a global emergency such as a solar flare or… well, an alien invasion. We also had to agree that all countries had to participate if we were to enact it. No leaving  anyone in the dark.” He said.
“You let the Soviets dictate terms?” She asked.
“We needed them. They have Victor Luca on their side and the network would need all the Type 5 Telepaths it could get.” He admitted.
“I see… So there has been no word from them at all… That’s not good…” She said, drinking deeply from her cup.
“Warden, Jonny, Lily, Mia and the rest of the board are all gone. The UHA is basically leaderless right now and we need to make some sort of announcement soon.” He said.
Elizabeth began to see where this was going and filled her glass again.
“And you and whoever else thought it would be a good idea to bring in a Legacy Member to be some sort of mouthpiece right?” She asked.
“Sorry, but you're one of the original founders of the Association. You helped write the guidebook on heroism. Literally! That thing is still a bestseller.” He said with a chuckle, Elizabeth raised the glass up and emptied it down her throat.
Thomas watched as she filled it again.
“People will listen to you. I know you don’t have a good relationship with the…” He said watching her finish the glass and began pouring another.
“R-Relationship with the Association but we need you right now… You… You should slow down with that.” He told her as she raised the glass to her lips once again.
“Shut it. You know alcohol doesn't affect me as much as it does others. So if I’m going to do you this favor at least let me get shitfaced tonight.” She said to him as she took another drink.
“The Association isn’t that bad Eliza.” He said to her.
“I can’t believe you’re still there after what happened with Ira.” She scoffed, Thomas silently stared at her as she drank.
“They sat back and did nothing! They just allowed that shit to spread around the news! The entire purpose of the UHA was to protect its members from Lawsuits and the goddamned vultures of the press! I was fucking humiliated! And Ira… Ira had it so much worse.” She said spilling her drink a bit.
“You two were adults… And you both made a decision. You both violated UHA guidelines and were punished. I knew you two were together… I just wished I had done something before it got out of hand.” He said.
“Don’t blame yourself.” She said to him.
“I’m not…” He said back staring at her.
Elizabeth froze, his eyes felt like daggers piercing her soul. She wanted to say something but it felt as if a tangle of words were stuck in her throat. She felt her eyes start to burn as they began to water and she looked down at her drink. Thomas and Ira had been twins. She knew Thomas felt she was responsible for Ira’s death but he had never said it aloud to her. But seeing Ira’s face say those words, It caused a sort of pain that she knew would never go away.
“Why do… why do you keep visiting me if you hate me so much?” She asked lowly.
Thomas looked at her and sighed. He took his drink and downed the last of it and placed it on the bar.
“I- I don’t hate you… I know you and Ira were in love. And if Ira loved you then… well, then that means… shit, what does that mean?“ He said trailing off trying to think of something to stop her from crying.
“You… You really suck at comforting people…” She said as with a small laugh as she desperately began wiping her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah… Will you come back?” He asked.
“I’ll… Yes, but I will only be there for PR. I’m not dirtying my hands with the politics in that place anymore.” She said taking another sip.
“Thank you, I’ll pick you up in the morning. You should get some rest.” He said as he got up.
“What? You're leaving already?” She asked looking up at him.
“There are things I need to prepare for tomorrow. Plus you need to sleep off this booze.” He said to him as he began walking towards the door.
“Wait… What’s the real reason you came to ask me to do this?” She said stopping him.
“What are you talking about? I already told you.” He said looking back at her.
“Come on Thomas… I’m not dumb. If you needed someone to handle PR for you guys. You could have just had that Gravity Girl do it. She's super popular right now. People would listen to her far more than some “has-been little slut”.“ She said to him.
“Don’t call yourself that.” He said to her.
“I’m not… That’s what most fan mail I get address me as.” She said with a sad laugh.
Thomas looked at her and sighed.
“Honestly, she's an immature primadonna. And I would rather someone like you honor the lives of fallen Heroes.” He said to her.
Elizabeth stared at him, a couple of tears ran down her face and she looked down to hide them. She looked at the glass and then placed it on the bar. She got up and looked at Thomas.
“Goodnight Thomas, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said smiling at him.
“Good night Eliza.” He said back returning her smile.
Thomas turned and exited her penthouse. She looked at the door for a while longer before turning to go to her bedroom. She would have to pick something to wear tomorrow. If she was going out in public, she wanted to look her best. She swayed on her a little realizing that she did drink too much. She sighed thinking that tomorrow was going to be a long day.