The socially awkward villain's furry superpower

This place is not quite what Sienna had expected.

She had already sketched out in her mind what the places where gangsters frequented looked like.

It might be a tacky bar, a strip club, or an abandoned gas station.

If they wanted to keep a low profile, they might even choose a cheap apartment building.

But the ordinary-looking office building in front of her was clearly not what she had imagined.

"This is, uh, where Homi stays?" Sienna asked.

Behind the front window of the office is a sign that reads "Whitechapel Technologies," next to which is a regular computer vector graphic.

This looks no different from the thousands of shops Sienna had passed by before.

"No, Homi and his gang of daredevils are more like a street gang, or at least that's a fair way to describe them."

I think the only reason he hasn't been arrested yet is that the crimes he committed were too minor to be worth noting.

At least, that's true for the crimes that could actually be attributed to him.

"But he's a villain?" Sienna asked.

Meraton waved his hand, making an ambiguous gesture.

"He's a trafficker. That's not exactly villainous behavior."

If he were a complete villain, he would have been locked up in jail long ago, but in reality, his actions weren't entirely illegal.

"Are there any illegal acts of evil?" Sienna asked.

"That's not quite right. But if you saw someone with a 'criminal' label on their head, you wouldn't just smile and greet them like that."

“But just having that label doesn’t mean they’ve done anything wrong,” Sienna said.

Meraton looked at her.

"I mean... shouldn't they be considered innocent before they, uh, do anything bad?"

The female hero shrugged. "Well, maybe. But once they start using any superpowers, you know they must have done something bad to upgrade them."

This is a "better safe than sorry" approach. Plus, catching them can earn you some points; characters like Homi, who fall into a gray area, are somewhere in between.

Traffickers can engage in perfectly legal business, and so can thieves.

"Oh fine."

She hoped that Melanie wouldn't hear the unspoken words in her voice.

Even if she understood, I hope the older woman would think that Sienna herself might be in a gray area, which is why she was worried about it.

"So, this isn't the place where we can find Homi, but it's where he launders some of his money."

At least, that's what Handshaw thinks. We need to go in and ask a few people some very crucial questions.

Sienna wanted to know more, but before she could ask, Melanie walked forward, pushed open the office door, and went inside.

Sienna and Isabella exchanged a glance, and after a moment followed her inside, the bell on the door ringing once again.

The office... was almost identical to all the mid-range offices Sienna had ever seen.

There was a large table at one end, with a secretary sitting behind it, and several chairs. Near the entrance were several small coffee tables piled with "Mask Weekly," "Boring Market," and other magazines.

“You,” Meraton said, pointing to the person behind the table, “who is the owner here?”

The young woman, about the same age as Sienna, less than a year apart, stared back at her with wide eyes for a moment before replying, "Boss? It's Mr. Sachar."

"Okay, is he here?"

The secretary nodded frantically. "He's in his office."

"Are you with someone else?" Meraton asked again.

After receiving a no-shake response, she walked straight past the table and toward the back, saying, "Then cancel all his meetings this afternoon."

“Yes, we really, uh, we’re so sorry,” Sienna quickly said.

For a moment, she faced a choice: stay and explain the situation to the confused secretary, or continue to follow Meraton.

She chose the latter.

The female superhero walked into the office, glanced at the surrounding cubicles, and then headed straight for a room at the back.

Sienna followed closely, head down, cheeks burning, hoping that the people working in the cubicles wouldn't have time to look up.

The boss's room was small, and it wasn't really suitable for three people to suddenly barge in and disturb the middle-aged man sitting behind an old computer screen.

Mr. Sachar was a very fat man, with more than one chin, and his belly was quite prominent even when he was sitting. When he suddenly stood up, his belly wobbled. "What's going on?"

Meraton waited until they were all inside before closing the door.

Then, without pausing, she jumped from one side of the table to the other and lightly patted the man's chest.

Sachar swayed in place, slowly closed his eyes, and then began to fall backward.

He fell slowly, giving Meraton time to walk around the table and gently help him back to his seat.

“Is he... is he dead?” Sienna asked.

She wondered if she had just witnessed a murder, but the man's snoring dispelled her doubts.

"He's asleep, that's the effect of my superpower."

Sienna swallowed hard. "Yes, yes, that's what you're good at."

The ability to put someone to sleep with a touch may not sound particularly impressive, but Meraton built a successful career on this skill.

“There’s more to it than that,” the heroine said. “I wanted to keep it a secret, but things wouldn’t make sense if I didn’t say it. So please don’t tell anyone.”

"Don't tell anyone?" Sienna asked.

"this."

As Meraton spoke, he placed his hand on Mr. Sachar's forehead and then rolled his eyes upward.

Her body swayed slightly, and some of her small muscles twitched slightly.

Her lips moved, and she even let out a hum.

Then the hero suddenly came to his senses and took a big step back.

"W-what happened?" Sienna asked.

“I think she went a little crazy just now,” Teddy said.

Meraton rubbed the side of his head, as if trying to relieve a headache, then gestured towards the door. "Let's go."

“Hmm, what?” Sienna asked.

This question earned her a fierce glare from Meratton, and she had no choice but to quickly run out of the office ahead of the angry Meratton.

They hurried through the entrance, ignoring the secretary's puzzled questions, and returned to the street.

Meraton took the lead again, leading them to a nearby alley, where she took out her phone and started typing on it.

“Hmm, Meraton? What just happened?” Sienna asked.

Melanie didn't look up. "Superpowers evolve. When I first got my superpowers, it felt awful."

I can put people to sleep. Nothing special, I'm like a walking, disposable insomnia cure. That's not ideal.

But later I defeated some really tough guys in several fights, and even took care of a few people who went astray.

As long as I can have physical contact with others, my superpower is absolutely effective; nothing can stop it, except perhaps allowing people to get a good night's sleep.

At least in close-quarters combat, this is essentially a perfect, non-lethal ability to subdue an opponent.

“Oh, okay?” Sienna asked.

"But later my superpowers became more useful. I originally hoped to increase the range of its effect, but it turned out to be related to dreams."

Whenever I encounter someone, I can see their dreams and even control those dreams.

Sienna connected the two things. "You can read minds?"

"I wish I could. I could see dreams. Do you remember any of your dreams?"

"Do you remember something?"

“I dreamt about eating, and I also dreamt that I was sleeping,” Teddy said.

Meraton snorted. "Dreams are fragmented and chaotic, usually without much logic."

The locations often jump around, and time is not always linear. Normal dreams may repeatedly feature the same scenes, or they may be bizarre, metaphorical nightmare scenes.

But I can guide and influence them, and sometimes I can even see the underlying principles.

"You were doing that in the house just now? That guy was snoring like a ton of bricks in no time," Teddy asked.

"Yeah, more or less, which means I now roughly know where he and Homi usually meet."

"That's...good?"

Meraton nodded. "He dreamt he went to collect a sum of money, so... I think that's where he first paid the company for business purposes after receiving the money, and then returned it to Homi..."

It's possible that everything will be legal and compliant when repaying the money.

"So, where are we going now...?"

“Yes. I hope you enjoy the pizza,” Meraton said.

“Uh. I like it?” Sienna said.

“I’ve never eaten it before,” Teddy said.

The hero stared at Teddy for a moment, "But that place is on the other side of the city."

“How do we get there?” Sienna asked.

"I'll call a taxi."