“Aha,” Victoria said, her smile wry, her head shaking a little. “There’s always irony. A teammate of mine used to say ‘that would be too easy’ when talking about his powers and situation. There’s always a catch, or a hidden struggle, or a parallel between the power and the moment that the powers came out.”

“Can we use that?” a man in the back row asked. A chubby middle-aged guy.

“Use…? Elaborate?”

“The trigger. Psychological weakness. Especially if there’s that connection between the power and the moments the power came out.”

“You’ll want to look up the Sechen ranges,” Victoria said. “Put someone in a mindset close where they were at the trigger event, they get stronger. Don’t push that button unless you want to deal with someone who’s going to be more emotional and more in tune with their powers. As a case in point, even talking about my background helps get me to a point where I can bring out my invisible friend here, sending that forcefield that’s meant to protect me out to do other things. A little shaky, but usable.”

The papers beside Victoria moved, all together, all in a mostly tidy pile. As one mass, they flew through the air, toward the desks. Some people leaned back as papers were put on their desks.

“Trust me, Wade, you don’t want any cape you’ve just pissed off pulling new tricks out of their sleeves. Or, to pull on an example from a new cape the Wardens brought in last week, figuring out they can make you permanently blind, deaf, and paralyzed without needing to touch you first.”

“Got it.”

“My approach here is focused on information and compassion. Hero or villain, powered or unpowered, everyone has a reason for doing what they’re doing. Everyone’s going through something. Stay mindful of that, especially when dealing with capes.”

The invisible Victoria finished handing out the papers. One was offered to Missy, who waved it off. She saw a smile on Victoria’s face.

“Those pamphlets I just handed out have some of the more critical slides, talking points, and then secondary research. On the topic of Sechen ranges, I know some of you want references from Captain Gaile and I. I have a list of supplementary topics that includes those ranges. You can go to the library, print out any of the articles from the list. Do a write-up on it with the format I outlined. Show you’re engaging with the work, we’ll oblige.”

Missy watched, listening as there were a few final questions.

“Thank you, everyone. I’m available by email if you have questions, and I’ll be sitting with Gaile during her office hours if you want to ask those questions in person or hear battle stories. If you found this useful in any way, please let Gaile know. I’d love to make this temporary lecture series a permanent thing.”