The room went silent. Twenty teenagers who had spent months training their bodies and developing their powers suddenly faced with the prospect of articulating their motivations on camera.

"The good news is that there are no wrong answers. The bad news is that there are answers that will end your career before it starts, and you won’t know which category yours falls into until you see the playback."

He gestured toward Camille, who sat in the third row with her jaw set in familiar determination.

"Ms. Ortega, you’re first."

Camille stood without hesitation and walked to the platform. The studio lights hit her perfectly, highlighting her two-tone hair and the confidence she carried in every movement. The camera tracked her approach with smooth precision.

She positioned herself at the center mark and looked directly into the lens.

"I want to become a Hero because people deserve to feel safe when they walk home at night. They deserve to know that someone with the power to help them will show up when everything goes wrong. I have that power. Using it for anything else would be waste."

She held the camera’s gaze for exactly three seconds after finishing, then stepped off the platform.

Vincent nodded once.

"Direct. Personal. Results-focused. Well done."

Camille returned to her seat with the satisfied expression of someone who had just proven a point.

"Mr. Park, you’re next."

Theo approached the platform with his usual easy confidence. The lights loved him, turning his warm smile into something that could probably sell breakfast cereal.

"Being a Hero means being the person others can count on when they can’t count on anything else. I’ve been that person for my friends and family my whole life. Now I want to be that person for everyone."

Simple. Genuine. The kind of answer that made you believe he meant every word.

Vincent called names in no apparent order. Eden bounced onto the platform with explosive energy and talked about protecting the people he cared about. Petra delivered a precisely crafted statement about public service and institutional responsibility that sounded like it had been workshopped by a committee. Nyx spoke quietly about understanding what it felt like to be different and wanting to make sure nobody faced their problems alone.

Each statement revealed something essential about who they were beneath the Hero candidate facade.

Rina nearly dropped her mug when Vincent called her name. She approached the platform like she was walking to her own execution, her white horns catching the light as she took position.

The camera focused on her face, and for a moment she just stood there, looking terrified.

Then something shifted. Her shoulders straightened. Her purple eyes found the lens.

"Most people think being different makes you weak. I used to think that too. But different isn’t weak. Different is just... different. And sometimes different is exactly what someone needs to see to know they’re going to be okay."

Her voice was soft but steady. The camera loved her, turning her natural introversion into something compelling rather than awkward.

Vincent’s expression suggested he was genuinely impressed.

"Excellent. Natural delivery, authentic emotion, universal message. That’s exactly the kind of statement that builds lasting public connection."

Rina hurried back to her seat, her face pink but pleased.

The exercises continued. Caden delivered something characteristically chaotic about making heroics fun again. Marco went for dramatic intensity that bordered on parody. Felicity’s statement was so polished it sounded like a campaign ad, which was probably intentional.

"Mr. Belmont."

My turn.

I stood and walked to the platform, hyperaware of the cameras tracking my movement. The studio lights were brighter than expected, creating a warm bubble that isolated the platform from the rest of the room.

I’d watched nineteen classmates deliver their statements. I’d seen which approaches worked and which ones fell flat. I’d listened to Vincent’s feedback and understood the parameters.

The camera’s red light blinked on. Somewhere behind it, my face was being displayed on monitors for everyone to see.

Time to find out if Diane’s media training had been worth the investment.

"I want to become a Hero because symbols matter. When civilians see a Hero arrive on scene, their fear turns into hope. That transformation, that moment when despair becomes relief, that’s the entire point. Everything else is just logistics."

I held the lens for three seconds, exactly like Camille had.

The red light blinked off.

Vincent was watching me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. His blue eyes held something that might have been recognition or might have been wariness.

"Sophisticated messaging for a first-year student. Almost suspiciously sophisticated."

The room was quiet enough that I could hear the cooling fans in the camera equipment.

"Who taught you that?"

The question landed with more weight than it should have. Twenty pairs of eyes were on me, waiting for an answer that would either confirm or contradict whatever theory Vincent was developing.

"Nobody taught me anything. I just pay attention to what works."

Vincent’s smile was sharp.

"Paying attention is a skill most Heroes never develop. The ones who do tend to have interesting careers."

He moved to the next name on his list, but I caught him glancing back at me twice during the remaining presentations.

When the last student finished, Vincent addressed the entire class.

"Your homework for Thursday is to watch the recordings of today’s session and write a one-page analysis of your own performance. What worked? What didn’t? What would you change if you could do it again?"

He gestured toward the camera equipment.

"These recordings will be archived in your student files. They’ll be available to agencies during recruitment season. They’ll be part of your permanent academic record. Some of you delivered statements today that will help your careers. Others delivered statements that will require significant work to overcome."

The room was silent as that information settled.

"The media will judge you whether you’re ready or not. The public will form opinions based on clips that last thirty seconds or less. Your job is to make sure those thirty seconds represent who you actually are, not who you become when you panic under pressure."

Vincent collected his tablet and headed toward the exit.

"Same time Thursday. We’ll be covering crisis communication and hostile interviewing techniques. I suggest you spend the intervening time practicing speaking clearly under stress."