Sabine reviewed her tablet one more time, tuning out the buzz of the crowd waiting at the steps of the building. The Capitol Building. The Capitol Building. How did she even get pulled into this?

Right, Kristoph. That charismatic bearded jackass earned a promotion after they all crossed over to this new world, and one of his first acts in his elevated position was to assign Sabine to deal with the Public Relations mess caused by some idealist with too much information for his own good. He claimed that Sabine was the most “adaptable” and could put on a better “public face” than most. She was pretty sure he thought it would be funny to make her suffer.

Regardless of her former field partner’s motivations, Sabine sat there in her charcoal grey suit jacket and matching pencil skirt awaiting her announcement. The closing of the rift between words was a curse and a blessing. Without a connection to her home universe, (which still felt odd to think about, but she knew the risks when taking her assignment,) they were “resource light.” It was the business way of saying they had lost most of their toys, labs, bases, and established connections. They were lucky they made contact with the United States government on this side before losing access to decades of work.

Sabine preferred to look at the silver lining of all they lost; there was no better way to cover up tracks and destroy evidence than to put it in an inaccessible universe. Devon Hadden decided to make a very public display of the SUPER tactics on her world. Sabine would love to break those well-defined cheekbones for the hassle he was causing. Still, he might have first-hand accounts thanks to Iota-Nine, but all his circumstantial evidence was tied to the original SUPER organization. That gave her new SUPER an unprecedented opportunity.

With a steadying breath, Sabine donned her mask. Confident, but not so arrogant she acted untouchable. Professional and results-oriented, but not so cold she could not recognize the concerns of the community. She wanted a neutral American accent, so she chose a Midwest dialect; something general and not easy to pin down to a particular state. Feeling prepared, she said farewell to true anonymity and stepped out toward her waiting podium.

Looking out, the closest group to the podium were members of the media. In the distance, she could see a protest, which was expected. This universe was not as ready for SUPER as hers had been; they would work on that.

”Thank you all for your time. My name is Sabine Sang, and I am Representative and Government Liaison for what was once a branch of the Strategic Unit for Preternatural Experimentation and Research. Though our organization has not yet been assigned a designation, you likely know our former parent organization as SUPER.”

As expected, that drew an immediate reaction from the crowd, which Sabine was ready for. ”I will be taking a few questions at the end of today’s announcement. In the meantime, thank you for bearing with me as I provide some more insight into our operations, which I think is long overdue.” They should have taken the lead with the information campaign, but in her universe, they enjoyed far more limited oversight, letting them keep activities on a need-to-know basis. That time was over. They needed controlled transparency.

”In the other universe, the AV, SUPER was a response to a dangerous climate where mutant-related incidents were far too common. This was a result of mutant criminal activity, yes, but also unforeseen and often unintentional events as a product of a mutant without control. This, in turn, led to attacks and actions against mutants by a human population motivated by fear. That fear came from the concern that there was no way to control or prevent these events. That no one could do anything about them.

”SUPER was started with those intentions. They would monitor situations with the potential to become incidents, and they took preventative measures in cases where an incident was deemed inevitable.” Sabine made a conscious use of the word they. She was distancing herself and the new SUPER from its predecessor. That made it easier to throw the lost organization under the bus. ”These tactics continued to evolve throughout the life of that organization and unfortunately went to extremes. They thought it was what was necessary for their world, and I am here to say the SUPER of AV took things too far and some of their actions were unspeakable.”

Sabine scanned the audience of reporters. She had them all hanging on her words, waiting for what came next. ”The other world had its own X-Men, but they chose to live as vigilantes, acting outside of the law and putting the general public at risk with their lack of oversight. The X-Men of this world made the choice to become an official organization, working with the police and doing real good for the world. The SUPER of the old world grew dangerous and experimental because it was allowed to go uncontrolled and unquestioned. Those of us who came to this world and those we’ve worked with on this side want to create what SUPER always should have been: an organization for the benefit of the populace, including our mutant citizens.”

”We all want to live with liberties and freedoms, but we also want to live in safety. Regulation is a necessary part of our lives. Monitoring potential threats is an aspect of the government that has always existed, and with mutants, the need to be prepared is even more important now than it has been in the past. Still, we have no intentions of running some anti-mutant secret police state. We would monitor potential threats and prepare to respond to them when necessary.” That was really what the surveillance element was always for, at its core. Their methods were just more… proactive.

”In instances where mutants are an imminent threat to themselves and others, we will make contact and advocate for a solution as a preventative measure. Mutations that manifest violently, evolve dangerously, or are just entirely too unpredictable or impossible to control. We want to protect everyone, and would offer options within SUPER to help them manage these growths or ways to keep them from being a danger in public.” She had to paint it as a choice; in less serious cases, it could be. Still, at the end of the day, if there was a mutant who uncontrollably exploded every few hours, leaving them on the streets was not an option.

”We would also like to welcome the cooperation of organizations who are willing to assist us with this. The X-Men and Haven have both been organizations that offer to aid mutants who need help controlling their mutations. In lieu of SUPER custody, we would be glad to connect mutants in need with these organizations.” At the very least, in the instances where the mutant was someone those groups could be trusted with. She could not jeopardize a new organization by painting it as an opponent to two well-established groups. The best defense was a good offense, and in this regard, her offense came in the form of an outstretched hand.

”Liberty is important. So is safety. Liberty cannot come at the cost of the safety and lives of those around you. We want mutant-human relations to continue improving in our world.” Claiming ownership of this world as her own. Denouncing her home world. It was all important if she wanted to be seen as trustworthy. ”We have human and mutant operatives in our ranks because mutant incidents spread fear and help justify anti-mutant hatred in the minds of those who preach it. We all want to ensure that accidents and, more importantly, mutant crime do not let people tarnish the picture of mutants in our country.”

Sabine took a calculated moment, as though she was gathering her thoughts and considering their weight. ”We know there is no forgiving some of the actions of the other world’s SUPER, but we want to strive to do something good with the name and the original ideals it was founded on.”

”All that being said… I can take a few questions now.” Sabine looked over the crowd, but it was for show. She pointed to the reporter she had in her back pocket with a question she was ready for.

“How would you respond to mutants, or their families, who think the government should have no say in whether they need to be in anyone’s custody or quarantined from society.”

Sabine nodded. ”Of course, those situations are the extreme and something we want to limit to necessity. But I do believe it is a necessity. I was the daughter of a human parent and a mutant parent. My mother’s power was dangerous and unchecked. If you were to ask me… no. If you were to ask my mother if she would have rather been brought into a safe environment to work on the stability of her powers, I think she would have. It would be better than living with the knowledge that her mutation went out of control and killed her husband.”

That quieted the crowd. Sabine took a few more questions in stride and finished out her conference. Once she left the podium and the public eye, she turned on her phone and dialed a contact, pressing the phone to her ear. ”It’s done. We will obviously have to tread more carefully on this side, at least initially. Also, off the record, you’re a dick for making me a glorified PR girl, and you know it.”

For everyone else, their world ended. He wasn’t the only one caught on the other side of the rift when it closed. He had been on special assignment, meeting with local law enforcement, meeting with interested parties and people who wanted to learn more about SUPER’s ideals and methodologies. He wasn’t the best person for the job but he was far from being the worst. And now that the tear in spacetime closed and he was essentially separated from the more intelligent and well-versed men and women of SUPER, any agents, scientists, and high officials left were scrambling to plug the holes before SUPER sank beneath the waves. Of course, any organization like this wasn’t going to go quietly into the night.

Having been one of those people who spent the majority of the time the rip was open on the other side, Kristoph was naturally offered as a sacrifice to the HR gods for advancement. He knew a bit more about this world than most, found a few of those differences that would be important for them to know. They were essentially starting from scratch so all that mattered was that they made the right steps.

This was especially true now that they were standing on a road covered in eggshells. Anyone else would have crumbled under the weight but Kristoph knew a thing or two about bad and recuperating PR. Maybe he was an idiot savant, or maybe he just missed his calling as an ad man, but any case, it seemed that for as unconventional as his idea was, the panicking council knew that he was right. The only way to step forward and plant their flag into this world was by shaking off the dust of the other.

It was time to burn the effigy of SUPER along with the rest of the world; how else would they rise from the ashes?

Watching the event on the television from his swanky room, Kristoph grinned as he watched Sabine step up to the podium. Was he being mean by making her do it? No. Did he get a small crumb of joy knowing how much she was squirming? Definitely. But again it wasn’t because he was mean spirited. He knew that he was right. Sabine was a goddamn ghost on the job. She could do whatever she wanted and become whoever she wanted. If SUPER wanted someone who was dedicated to the organization but still convincingly toss it under the bus, it was her.

By the time she had finished, he was practically believing her as well. ”That’s the way, kiddo,” he smirked. Moments later his phone chimed and he smirked. ”Joe’s Cryogenics. You kill ‘em, we chill ‘em.”

>>”It’s done. We will obviously have to tread more carefully on this side, at least initially. Also, off the record, you’re a dick for making me a glorified PR girl, and you know it.”

Another shit-eating grin. It was worth it even if she couldn’t see it. ”You’re lucky you said ‘off-record’, or you’d be in for a harsh reprimand.” Shaking his head he sighed. ”On the record, you did a great job. I knew you could do it.”