Ever since the importance of heroes is taking the foremost in the modern society, the existence of the United Heroes headquarters in the city become apparent. The headquarters of each city is situated in a strategic location for ease of access and faster dispatch of heroes in case of an emergency or a disaster. Not to mention they also becoming one of the busiest places where people come and do many activities. Starting from taking pictures in front of the headquarters and sightseeing, to wait for their favorites hero to come and ask for a signature. Not to mention that it is also one of the safest places in town which makes it an irreplaceable spot to conduct transactions.
Another interesting thing about it is the headquarters isn’t lacking in children coming to this place to get their superpower appraised. It can be said to be the deciding place for those children to walk on their path of dream to become a superhero or to accept the harsh reality that they aren’t suited to be a hero. The contrasting scene where a child is rejoicing happily and another crying out loud to their heart’s content can be considered as a usual occurrence.
Among the crowd, Max Air and his parents can be seen. Walking towards the building hand in hand, with Max’s eye is filled with expectation. Along with the crowds, they finally managed to get inside the busy building after queuing for a while. They immediately head to the receptionist table and declared their purpose in coming to this place.
“Hello, welcome to the United Heroes headquarters branch in City H. How can I help you today?”
Greetings Max and his family is a young receptionist of the United Heroes headquarters. She is only one of many but they similarly have a friendly smile on their face. Despite the workload that is numerous, working at the United Heroes headquarters is a source of pride in itself. Knowing that you are contributing to the peace and servicing the community is one of the reasons.
“Hello miss, we’re here to take an appraisal for our son. Today is his fifth birthday and we already have an appointment before. Here’s the ticket.”
Max’s father hand over a slip of paper to the receptionist and she checked the details written on the ticket with the computer. After making sure that the details are all correct, she then informed Max and his family about his appointment for today.
“An appraisal is scheduled under the name Max Air, 11 am on the sixteenth floor. Here’s your visitor ID and you can use this to access the lift on the right. There’s a waiting room upstairs and there’s refreshment prepared for you as you wait for your turn. Is there anything else that you want to ask or is there anything that’s unclear?”
“No, we understand. Your explanation is clear and concise. Thank you very much for your assistance.”
“You’re welcome. It is our job to make sure that we are giving the best service to everyone. Oh, by the way, Max, who’s your favorite heroes?”
“Captain Green!”
Without even needing to wait even for a second, Max replied instantly to the question. The receptionist lady instantly smiled as she asked them to wait for a second. She goes to the back table and takes something before presenting it to Max.
“Here, you’re actually pretty lucky since this is the last costume for Captain Green that we have, and here’s a postcard with Captain Green’s signature. Although I don’t know how will your appraisal test will go, but I wish you the best of luck. Happy birthday Max!”
“Wow! Captain Green costume and signature! Mom, Dad, look at this.”
Max happily takes the present and showing it off to his father and mother that smiled looking at his reaction. The receptionist lady is also pleased that it is enough to make Max’s day a little bit brighter.
“Thank you, big sister. I will definitely treasure this.”
While waving away to the receptionist as the family of three headed to the lift. Before they could access it, a stern-looking security guard is checking at their visitor’s ID before letting them use the lift. It is done to make sure that there’s no unrelated individual managed to sneak into the building. The visitor’s ID that Max has can only access the sixteenth floor as permitted.
Exiting the lift, Max can see a wide waiting room in front of him. It is simple and clean with a corner of the room is having a wide variety of snacks and drinks free for everyone to have while waiting for their appointed time.
There are also a lot of children with their families already waiting there. Although Max firstly thought that they have come early, there’re a lot of people here already. It can also be seen how popular the heroes are and how many children are yearning to become like them.
Max and his father quickly find a place to sit while his mother is going to the refreshment area to take some snacks for them.
“Max, are you nervous?”
Max’s father patted his back while looking at Max that is continuously glancing around.
“Dad, rather than nervous, I can say that I am actually afraid.”
“Eh, why are you afraid?”
“All this time, sometimes I sneakily didn’t eat the vegetable that Mom gives me and throw them away. What if my superpower won’t come out?”
Hearing his son’s answer, Max’s father can only laugh.
“Haha, Max. Even if your superpower doesn’t come out, you are still our beloved son. Even your dad and mom don’t have any superpower, but aren’t we doing just fine? Of course, it will still be better if you actually don’t have any superpower though.”
“Dad! Why are you saying that? What if you jinxed it?”
“Haha, although being a superhero looked fun and dazzling in front of the TV. Have you ever considered how dangerous it is to be a hero? You have to constantly fight on the frontlines and you could easily get injured if you are not careful.”
Of course, it wasn’t an exaggeration when Max’s father said that. In fact, many heroes show up every year but a lot of them also retired due to injury or even worse, killed in action. Which parents don’t want their child to become a rising star? But at the same time, they also don’t want their child to be in harm’s way.
“Don’t worry dad. If I managed to become a hero, I will be the hero that pays the most attention to their own safety first.”
Hearing his son’s innocent rebuttal, Max’s father can only laugh once again.