“Welcome back to the Sanson Show! Today we have world renowned psychology Professor Dr. John Marone,” The host, a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, swivels her chair towards her guest, an older man with spectacles on. “Thanks for joining us, John.”

  “Thanks for having me, Maria.” The man strokes his finely combed beard.

  “As everyone knows, there’s been major devastation across the world, following events straight out of a fantasy novel. You, John, were one of the few people trying to call attention to these strange superhumans among us. You called them… Beta Testers?”

  “That’s what they call themselves, yes.” The man replies.

  “Can you tell us more?”

  The man looks down and shuffles his notes. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the full picture quite yet. All attempts to interview these people has resulted in… mixed results. However, considering what they call themselves, we assume that they are in the initial testing stages of some kind of drug.”

  “I’m surprised we don’t have a more substantial explanation.” Maria raises her eyebrows.

  The man clears his throat. “Someone or something has convinced all my sources to stay silent.”

  Maria looks down at the notes the man has with him, but he covers them from her sight. “Do we have any knowledge as to who is behind these superhumans?”

  “That’s the thing, they’ve been appearing at random all across the world, with no common denominator between them. Young, old, male, female, black, white, I can think of at least one confirmed Beta Tester in every continent and of every background.”

  “Oh?” The host leans forward, “So you know who these people are?”

  The man nods his head. “We’ve confirmed roughly three hundred across the world. But our estimates for the total are much higher. For obvious reasons, we are keeping their personal information classified.”

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  The host taps her fingers in a slow, practiced motion, “And none of these people are willing to cooperate?”

  “That’s correct. Part of the reason is the ridiculous stigma of pop-culture, that if you tell the government about your powers, you’ll find yourself waking up in a lab somewhere near Area 51.” He looks at the camera, “I can assure you, we have no intentions of harming any of you. We simply want to help and protect you.”

  Maria makes a small sound at that statement, but doesn’t challenge it. “Before these events, you were laughed at by the scientific community, how does it feel to be proven correct?”

  The man breathes a sigh of relief. “Gratifying. Many of my former colleagues turned their back on me when I first entered this field of work.”

  “Our time is running short, is there anything you’d like to say before we end the segment?” Maria smiles at the man.

  “Yes.” The man straightens his back as he looks into the camera with a serious expression. “These Beta Testers are caring, thinking human beings, but they are still dangerous. If you know of one, please report their whereabouts to people who know how to deal with them at findthem dot gov.”

  “Thanks again for joining us John.”

  “My pleasure.”

  The camera moves around the desk, focusing on Maria. “That will be it for our show today, make sure to tune in tomorrow at five pacific time for the latest on these real life superheroes. I’m Maria Sanson, and I’ll be seeing you soon.”

  Maria maintains her smile until the producer signals that the cameras are off, however, unknown to everyone but the cameraman, a single camera stays rolling.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She asks, shuffling her papers.

  “Huh?” The professor looks over to her.

  “You’re a psychiatrist, you have to realize the dangers of labeling a whole group of people as ‘dangerous’. Not only that, but you’re calling for people to report their neighbors. Those are the actions of Stalin and Hitler.” She glares up at the psychiatrist.

  “If I see someone walking down with grenades in their hands, I’m going to report that to the police, whether the pins are pulled or not.” The man shakes his head, as if he was disappointed with the host.

  She waves her hand at the producer, stopping him from coming over to the table. “These people risked their lives for us, defending us from monsters beyond our imagination. You’d do well to treat them with gratitude, rather than fear.”

  “You talk as if you’re one of them…”

  Maria laughs, she covers her mouth, but can’t stop herself as she shakes her head. “Do you see what you just did there? You made the fact that I might be one of them a bad thing. One of them. That’s dangerous, Doctor. You’re leading us down a terrifying path, and I don’t like it one bit.”

  She stands up, not waiting for his response, and walks over to the producer.