My Annie is a born star!

To John's super senses, the hospital was anything but a pleasant place.

The pungent smell of Lysol mingled with the bitterness of medicine and flooded his nostrils unchecked.

Beyond the clicks of camera flashes around him, there were the faint, erratic heartbeats in the wards upstairs, any of which might stop at any moment.

In the past, lives so fragile that they seemed like insects to him would only have irritated him.

But now, as John looked at the boy in the wheelchair, wearing a knitted hat with a face as pale as paper, something in his gaze shifted subtly.

He noticed the boy trying to sit up straight, his frail hands, their blue veins clearly visible, clutching a sheet of drawing paper.

"Look, I drew this for you, Homelander."

The boy's voice was very weak, but a strange light shone in his eyes.

The blond hero in the drawing was rather crooked, but his red cape had been colored especially brightly.

John reached out with both hands.

The instant his fingertips touched the back of the boy's hand, he deliberately reined in his strength as much as he possibly could.

That cautious touch inexplicably reminded him of Buddy, the golden retriever at the manor, back when he had been a puppy.

John accepted the drawing with great solemnity, a trace of gentleness appearing in his blue eyes that even he did not fully notice.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a perfect, sunny smile.

"This is amazing. I'll put it up by my bed."

John reached out and lightly touched the edge of the boy's knitted hat. "You need to listen to your doctors. As long as you're strong enough, you can be your own superhero too."

The camera captured the moment precisely.

Several of the more emotional reporters there could not help tearing up.

Toward evening, the lingering sunset dyed Manhattan's steel forest orange-red.

An exceedingly faint disturbance of air sounded on the panoramic terrace outside Lynn's office.

John descended from the sky, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling glass door with practiced ease, and walked inside.

"The hospital visit went very well." Sitting on the sofa, Lynn smiled at the boy.

John did not answer immediately, instead heading straight to the washroom in the corner.

Soon, the sound of running water came from inside.

Lynn walked over.

John stood at the sink, carefully rinsing his hands with warm water, his brow slightly furrowed as though pondering some difficult problem.

"What's wrong? Did something upset you today?"

Lynn keenly noticed the fluctuation in the boy's mood.

"I'm not upset."

John turned off the tap, took the towel, and dried his hands, his blue eyes filled with confusion. "It just felt a little strange. That sick boy's heartbeat was as slow as a watch about to break, and his bones were as brittle as the cookies I crush. He was so weak. He could die at any moment."

John paused, then looked up again. "Back in Texas, those bad people screamed in fear when they faced bullets. But today, that boy was almost dead, yet he was still smiling at me. Lynn, they're so fragile, so why do they sometimes seem completely unafraid?"

Something stirred faintly in Lynn's heart.

He knew this was the first time John had truly begun thinking about the complexity of human emotions on his own.

He no longer simply regarded ordinary people as ants he could crush at will, but was trying to understand what drove them inside.

Lynn crouched down until his eyes were level with the boy's.

He took the child's drawing John had brought back, his tone gentle and earnest.

"Because you gave him hope, John."

Lynn pointed at the clumsily drawn figure. "Ordinary people's bodies really are fragile. But sometimes, their spirits can unleash astonishing strength. When they look at you and feel that miracles exist in this world, that hope can overcome their fear of death."

John looked at the drawing with only a vague understanding, his fingers gently stroking the paper.

"Hope..." he repeated softly.

"Yes. You did very well today. You really did give that child a happy day."

Lynn stood and neatly affixed the drawing to the whiteboard.

Then Lynn picked up his jacket and gave John an easy smile. "All right, it's quitting time for the director and the superhero. To celebrate your perfect performance, we're going to Queens for cheeseburgers tonight. You can order a double patty."

The confusion in John's eyes finally faded, and the innocent anticipation of an eight-year-old boy took over once again.

He hurried over to Lynn and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

"I want three layers of cheese, and a large Coke."

"Deal."

The two walked out of the office side by side, temporarily shutting all the trivial work matters and conspiracies lurking in the shadows behind the mahogany door.

That triple-patty cheeseburger in Queens put John in an excellent mood.

So much so that when he accompanied Lynn to Vought Tower the next morning, the blond boy actually gave the security officer in the elevator a brilliant, sunny smile for the first time ever, startling the poor guard so badly that he nearly pressed the wrong floor.

Ten in the morning, in the senior director's office of the Superheroes Management Department.

Lynn had just finished handling two breach-of-contract disputes involving C-rank heroes who had arrived late for commercial shoots when a knock came at his office door.

The supervisor responsible for early Supe assessments poked his head in, an undisguised trace of exasperation on his face:

"Director Lynn, sorry to interrupt. There's a bit of trouble at the children's comprehensive testing grounds in Area C. The family member of a girl whose powers have just undergone their initial awakening is causing a scene and refusing to sign the standard youth training contract. She's driving the legal department people crazy."

"A family member causing a scene?"

Lynn raised his eyebrows slightly.

At Vought International, Compound V injections were usually administered secretly during infancy.

Faced with overwhelming capital and one-sided contractual terms, the family members who dared throw a tantrum inside Vought Tower could be counted on one hand.

"Yes, the girl's mother."

The assessment supervisor handed over a thin file. "The little girl has just awakened the basic ability to release bright light and energy. Her mother probably thinks she's given birth to a money tree. Now she's adamantly demanding a higher share of the commercial profits in the contract, along with immediate access to top-tier sponsorship resources for her daughter in national children's beauty pageants. Otherwise, she's refusing to cooperate with the subsequent physical tests."

Lynn took the file.

The photograph in the upper-right corner of the document showed a girl who looked only about four years old.

She had beautiful blond hair and features as delicate as a doll's, but her eyes betrayed timidity and nervousness.

The name field beneath the photograph read: Annie January.

At the sight of that name, Lynn's eyes flickered slightly.

Annie January, the future "Starlight."

The girl who, in the original story, had been full of beautiful dreams about superheroes, only for the darkness of Vought International to shatter her faith completely.

Right now, though, the future Starlight was merely a pitiful little girl who had just awakened her powers and was being treated as a child-star cash cow by her vain mother.

"Come on. Let's meet this mother who wants to snatch money out of Vought International's pocket." Lynn stood and straightened his suit jacket.

John, who had been sitting on the sofa reading a comic book, immediately tossed it aside and followed him like a dutiful little shadow.

A woman's shrill shouting could be heard from far outside the lounge at the Area C comprehensive testing grounds.

"My Annie is a born star! Did you see the light coming from her hands? It's even more dazzling than stage lighting! A five-percent cut is an insult! Tell your supervisor that without a top-tier contract and preferential access to pageant resources, I'm taking her away today. Don't even dream of making a single cent off her!"

Lynn pushed open the glass door and walked into the lounge.