The Most Useless Awakening in History

First was moving-target rescue. Second was simulated blast-zone traversal. Third was target protection under high pressure. Again and again, Aiden disappointed every expectation and then somehow dragged the worst outcome back to the edge of passable. His power was not pretty. It did not glow, roar, or launch him into the sky. It simply made a falling steel plate, a rolling fuel canister, or a pressure wave aimed at a crowd lose half a beat of certainty, or dump its stored force somewhere else. “No spectacle value,” one evaluator muttered. “No commercial upside,” said another. “Audiences hate this kind of thing,” Vera said, checking the data stream. “The most common comment on him right now is that he has no hero presence.”